ELLISON makes a hit in 1/16 elimination at London Archery Classic

    ELLISON, the world No. 1 and World Cup winner for the last two years, started with four 10s to beat Crispin DUENAS (CAN) 6-0 having received a bye in the 1/32 eliminations.   There was a shock, however, as Olympic champion Viktor RUBAN (UKR) lost 4-6 to Jean-Charles VALLADONT (FRA) in the 1/16 eliminations.   Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) was not as successful as his countryman as he failed to live up to his ranking round of four and lost 0-6 to KUO Cheng Wei (TPE) in the 1/16 eliminations.   Gael PREVOST (FRA), the youngest competitor at the event at 17, stayed calm to score a 10 in a shoot-off with Hiroki SUETAKE (JPN) to win 6-5 in the 1/32 eliminations but found XING Yu (CHN) a tougher prospect and lost 2-6 in the next round.   In the women’s individual eliminations, No. 16 seed Kateryna PALEKHA (UKR) never recovered from a disastrous start of a triple seven in the first set and lost 0-6 to Asmat DIASAMIDZE (GEO) at the 1/32 stage. DIASAMIDZE then went on to lose 2-6 in the next round to Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR).   The athletes have been shooting their 1/32 and 1/16 individual eliminations matches from Thursday to Saturday. The winners of the 1/16 will come back to Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday and Monday for the individual finals sessions.   The matches are shot in the best-of-five sets format. Each set consists of three arrows and is worth two points; each archer gets one point in the case of a tied set. The first archer with six set points wins the match. In the case of a tied match at 5-5 in set points, a one-arrow shoot-off is shot. The winner is the archer whose arrow is closest to centre.   Here are some key notes from the Friday morning session's matches: - What a match to start the day! Two upraising archers met in the 1/32 eliminations: XING Yu (CHN) and Jake KAMINSKI (USA). The American shot 10-10-9 in the first two sets to take a 4-0 lead. However the Chinese scored 10-10-9 and 10-10-10 in the third and fourth set to tie the match at 4-4. The pressure increased. KAMINSKI shot 10-8-7 in the fifth. XING had 10-7-10 to clinch the match 6-4! - The second match went even further! It was a rollercoaster between Hiroki SUETAKE (JPN) and Gael PREVOST (FRA). The Japanese took the lead 2-0. The Frenchman tied at 2-2. Then the archers split the third set. PREVOST led 5-3 but SUETAKE tied at 5-5. In the shoot-off, the Japanese scored only an 8. Seeded the No. 12 the young Frenchman scored a 10 to stay alive in the competition! - The individual silver medallist at the last world championships Kristine ESEBUA (GEO) beat the team world medallist Jessica TOMASI (ITA) in three straight sets, 6-0. - PREVOST and XING just came out a difficult 1/32 elimination match. XING won the first set 26-25, but PREVOST took the second one 27-25. The Chinese however did not let any chance to the Frenchman in the following two sets. XING scored 10-9-10 and 10-10-10 to win the match 6-2. - YANG Futing (CHN) proved to be too good for ESEBUA in the 1/16 eliminations. The archers split one set, but the Chinese won the three others to take the match 7-1. - The local favourite Laurence GODFREY (GBR) led from the very first set all the way through his 1/32 elimination match. He finally beat Jacek PROC (POL) by 7-3. - Seeded No. 20, Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR) had a rather easy match in the 1/32 eliminations. Despite a bad 23-point third set, the World Cup Final 2011 bronze medallist defeated Mitch DIELEMANS (NED/45), 6-2. The Ukrainian will face Larry GODFREY (GBR/13) in the following match. - The World Cup Final reigning champion CHENG Ming (CHN), seeded No. 18 in London, had a hard time in her first match against Sinead CUTHBERT (IRL/47). The two ladies were tied at 4-4 apiece after four sets. They both shot low scores in this match. The 24 points in the final set were enough for the Chinese to clinch victory against 21 for her opponent. - The World Championships 2011 mixed team's bronze medallist GODFREY and the World Cup Final 2011 individual bronze medallist HRACHOV were tied at 2-2 after two sets. And again, 4-4, with only one set to go! Thanks to a beautiful 29-point fifth set, the archer from Ukraine upset his opponent to advance to the 1/8 round. - The 2010 European team champion Ksenia PEROVA (RUS/15) and the World Cup reigning champion CHENG Ming (CHN/18) were tied after one set (1-1) and after three (3-3) in their 1/16 round. The Chinese took the lead for the second time of the match at 5-3 with one set to go. However, her contender tied again at 5-5 and the two archers went to a shoot-off. The tie-break arrows were a 9 each, but the one from the Russian was closest to the centre and PEROVA came up trumps! - The No. 29 seed KUO Cheng Wei (TPE) had a quite easy 6-2 victory against the No. 36 Matthew GRAY (AUS) in the 1/32 elimination round. - Cheered up by her home crowd, the local favourite Naomi FOLKARD (GBR) had a straight 3-set victory over the 20-year old Natalia LESNIAK (POL) in 1/32 eliminations. - The 2010 European champion and team silver medallist from the Turin World Championships back in July Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) never found his marks against KUO Cheng Wei (TPE). Seeded No. 4 and exempt from first round, the Frenchman was upset in three straight sets, 0-6, in 1/16 eliminations! - Seeded No. 2, Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN) was against FOLKARD (34) in the 1/16 elimination round. The Japanese did justice to her rank and overcame her opponent in three little sets, 6-0.   Here are some key notes from the Friday afternoon session's matches: - Mauro NESPOLI (ITA/35) was a member of the Italian team that won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships on home soil. In the first match of the afternoon session, he was defeated by Crispin DUENAS (CAN/30), bronze medallist at the 2010 Pan American Championships. The Canadian will be given the difficult task to face the No. 1 in the world Brady ELLISON (USA) in 1/16 eliminations. - The local archer Amy OLIVER (GBR) took bronze in the world championships' mixed team event this year. The British lady and her opponent of the day Hanna MARUSAVA (BLR) were close to each other in the ranking round on Monday, as they finished 32nd and 33rd respectively. In 1/32 elimination however, OLIVER left no doubt float over with a 6-2 win. - Brady ELLISON (USA), 2-time World Cup winner (2010, 2011), No. 1 in the world and No. 3 seed in London, could not start better with four 10s followed by two 9s to clinch the first two sets and led DUENAS by 4-0. The American continued shooting amazingly well with all arrows in the gold ring for a comfortable victory 6-0 against his Canadian neighbour. - Same outcome for the world No. 1 female archer as for ELLISON on the men's side, since JUNG Dasomi (KOR) easily defeated OLIVER 7-1 in four sets. - Jean-Charles VALLADONT (FRA) was a member of the French team that clinch silver at the world championships this year. He faced Alan WILLS (GBR), 2007 world championships' team silver and individual bronze medallist. Though shooting on home soil, the Briton conceded harsh defeat 0-6. - After a good start with 27 points in the first set, the reigning Olympic champion Viktor RUBAN (UKR) had a bit of luck in the second and third sets. With two times 25 points only, he won the next two sets all the same and the match, taking advantage of the fact that his opponent Eetu TIAINEN (FIN) scored even lower sets with 23 and 22. - Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR) was 7th at the world championships back in July. In her 1/32 elimination match against Nathalie DIELEN (SUI), the archer from Belarus had the match in hand at 5-1 after three sets. In the fourth set, however, she let her opponent from Switzerland come back at 5-3, after she shot a 3 at her third arrow. TIMOFEYEVA pulled herself together in the final set, scoring 27 points, and clinched victory, 7-3. - Seeded No. 16, Kateryna PALEKHA (UKR) made a very bad start in her 1/32 elimination match against Asmat DIASAMIDZE (GEO/49) with a triple 7 in the first set and a triple 8 in the second. She could not recover and lost in three straight sets, 0-6. - The second set of the 1/16 elimination match between RUBAN and VALLADONT was spectacular. The Frenchman scored 9-10-10, while the Olympic champion from Ukraine started the set with two 10s. RUBAN's third arrow was close to the 10-ring but it was finally judged as a 9 for a tied set. The Ukrainian led 3-1 at that time. With 28 points, his opponent VALLADONT won the third set and tied at 3-3. The Frenchman then took the lead for the first time of the match, 5-3. The two archers won one point each in the final set, and VALLADONT clinched victory 6-4. - Seeded No. 17, TIMOFEYEVA was forecast as the favourite in the final match of the day in which she faced DIASAMIDZE, No. 49. The competitor from Belarus clinched victory in four sets, 6-2.   On Saturday, 8 October, the individual competition continues for men and women in the 1/32 and 1/16 eliminations.   LOCOG / World Archery Communication