Wu Chunyan takes top recurve open seed by 55 points

Wu Chunyan of China led the way over the recurve women’s open ranking round with an impressive score of 650 out of a possible 720 points at the World Archery Para Championships in Donaueschingen, Germany.

Wu was 55 points clear of second-placed Margarita Sidorenko of Russia, while Latvia’s Ieva Melle scored 593 to claim third place.

Two-time world champion Lee Hwa Sook had to settle for fourth after she scored 591 and Italy’s European Champion Elisabetta Mijno completed the top five, having also scored 591 but with one less X10 than Korean athlete Lee.

Mijno came into the competition with a shoulder injury but performed admirably during the qualification stage of the competition. She said: “I started off very well with the first 36 arrows but struggled in the second half.”

The Italian athlete scored 15 fewer points with her final 36 arrows than she did with her first, but remained positive about her performance.

“Fifth place is still a good start. It’s now about seeing what the rest of the week brings and trying to go as far as possible in the competition.”

Defending world champion Brigitte Duboc was one of three archers to finish on a score of 587 and qualified in eighth position. The 50 year old had a little trouble in the first end but regained her composure soon after.

“One of my arrows hit another and went to the floor,” she said. The arrow would still have counted. “Initially it affected my concentration but in the end I shot quite well.”

Coming into an event as the defending champion can sometimes create added pressure but Duboc’s experience negated the nerves.

“There was some pressure at the European Championships but I felt quite relaxed when shooting here,” she said.

Despite the added weight of Donaueschingen being the first and main event to qualify quota spots for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Duboc’s focus was purely on the arrows at hand.

“I want to go as far as possible,” Duboc explained. “But if I start thinking about the potential rewards of success it can affect my concentration and ultimately my performance.”