Remarkable gold medals for Turkey and Mexico

In the cadet men’s gold medal match, second-seed Turkey defeated a Canadian team that had upset two of the favourites in the elimination rounds. Furkan DERNEKLI, Baris TANDOGAN and Samet Can YAKALI (photo) built a lead in the first end (54-50), and extended their advantage over Canadians Hunter McGINNIS, Logan KUPCHANKO and Tyler MURPHY as the match progressed, finding victory 224-218.

Top-seeded Mexico ran a little bit behind in the first two ends of the bronze medal match (112-115), but inverted things in the third end: 58 points against the United States' 53. Ricardo GONZALEZ, Rodolfo GONZALEZ and Cecilio QUEVEDO took command - 170-169 - with six arrows to go. After three of those arrows were shot, the match was tied at 199-199. It came down to the final arrow, and Mexico needed a 10 to win! Young Rodolfo GONZALEZ promptly drilled the middle of the target, and the Latin Americans won: 228-227.

“The reason for our success and that final winning arrow is our teamwork, and the talk we had before the final”, explained Mexican coach Santiago AVITIA - older brother of Olympic bronze medallist Mariana. “We discussed positive aspects and where we could work towards improvement. I told every athlete to focus on his own shooting and distance the show and spectators.”

In the cadet women’s category, the United States successfully defended their title. Returning triple-gold medallist Emily FISCHER, as well as individual finalists Sonia TANIGUCHI and Danielle REYNOLDS, seeded n°1, set the tone with 59 points and a six-point lead over n°2 Russia in the very first end. A strong last series, with only one arrow out of the gold ring, got them  the match, 226-218, over Sofia KHLYSTOVA, Ekaterina MAKEEVA and Alexandra SAVENKOVA – who has two more shots at gold this afternoon, in the mixed team and individual finals.

In the bronze medal match, after a poor 51-point start from the British archers, a 6 from Mexico opened the door for sisters Kirsten and Aalin Elisse GEORGE, and Rebecca LENNON, to get back into the match. A good second half and a 10-10-10 finish gave them victory, 222-216, and the medal.

The battle for the junior men’s gold medal was a rematch of the 2009 final, won by the United States over Mexico. As new head-to-head world record holders, Danny BUTTON, Bridger DEATON and Alex WIFLER entered the contest as heavy favourites. Their score of 238 in the semi-finals - only one point short of the senior world record held by USA archery legends Braden GELLENTHIEN, Jesse BROADWATER and Reo WILDE - set high expectations.

A bad first end of 54 points - with two 8s - put the United States four points behind Mexico from the start. Mario CARDOSO, Adolfo MEDINA and David MONTIEL (main photo) shot steadily high scores throughout - 58-58-58-59. The States' perfect 60 in the final end was wasted, as Mexico won 233-231.
According to coach AVITIA, Mexico is putting a lot of effort into developing grassroots archery. “More young people are getting involved in the sport, and they also have a stronger desire to reach high goals and win. The two Olympic medals won in London - including one won by a junior at the age of 18 – was an additional wave of motivation, as the young archers realised they are on the right track, and that the highest sports goals are within reach.”

The junior men’s bronze medal match was tight between India and Great Britain. Sudhakar Kumar PASWAN and individual finalists Rajat CHAUHAN and Jignas CHITTIBOMMA trailed by four points before the final arrow. British archer Jordan MITCHELL needed to shoot an 8 to win, and India looked beaten. But he took an arrow out of his quiver before stepping out of the team box, and was shown a yellow card by the judge. Confused, he ran back and took out another arrow - and was yellow carded again. Time winding down, the Brit didn’t have time to shoot: handing the match to India, 228-222.

The junior women’s finals featured the top four-seeded teams. The gold medal match repeated the cadet final story, with top qualifier United States (photo) facing Russia. Individual bronze medal finalists Kailey JOHNSTON and Paige PEARCE - shooting with an arm protection following a ligament injury - as well as Lexi JELLER took a small but consistent lead from the very start. Mariia VINOGRADOVA, Anna LEMEZA and Elena ELIZAROVA could never find the sensational level that had earned them a new world record in the quarter-finals (228). With 221 points against the States' 225, Russia settled for silver for the fourth consecutive time in this category.

The Indian team of Jyothi Surekha VENNAM, Jayalakshmi SARIKONDA and Swati DUDHWAL clinched bronze in a victory over Mexico, 223-214.

Stay tuned this afternoon for the compound mixed team and individual finals.

World Archery Communication