Zahra NEMATI wins one of the gold medals awarded today in Bangkok

The last day of the 2013 Para World Championships saw medals awarded to compound mixed teams and recurve W2 archers this morning, before the recurve mixed teams and recurve open teams took to the competition field this afternoon.

Compound open - Mixed team finals
Japan and Italy contested compound open mixed team bronze to start this morning's finals. Elenora SARTI and Alberto SIMONELLI took the lead after the first four arrows, 36-34. Another end shot, the gap increased to 72-67: an advantage Nako HIRASAWA and Kazumasa HATTORI would not recover from. Italy took bronze, 143-137 - SIMONELLI's second medal of these Championships, to go with his silver in the team event.

The last compound match of the Championships reunited Danielle BROWN and Burcu DAG in the mixed team final, after DAG beat BROWN for compound women's open gold yesterday. Great Britain, BROWN with John STUBBS, was the top seeded team after qualifications, TURKEY - DAG and Erdo?an AYGAN - the second. Team GB had a short lead after the first end - 37-36 - but Turkey tied things up at halfway, 73-all. DAG and AYGAN started to pull away in the third: 109-107. A last, tight end increased Turkey's advantage further - and secured victory, 145-142, and the World Champion title. The medal was Burcu DAG's second of these Championships.

Recurve women W2 – Individual final
Double Paralympic Champion in 2012, Iran's Zahra NEMATI and London Paralympics team silver medallist XIAO Yanhong from China met in a rematch of the Turin World Championships' recurve women's final. Two years ago, XIAO took the title. This time NEMATI took the first set by a point - before XIAO won the second by two, to tie the match at 2-2 on set points. NEMATI won the third set, 26-22, then both archers had trouble with the wind in a fourth that went the Chinese archer's way, forcing a decisive last set. XIAO still suffered with the conditions but NEMATI (main photo) did not: the Iranian athlete won the last set, the match - 6-4 - and the title of World Champion. (As well as taking revenge for that loss in Turin two years ago!)

Recurve men W2 – Individual final
With an opportunity to win gold on home soil, Thailand's Hanreuchai NETSIRI faced Paul BROWNE from Great Britain. The wind picked up and was clearly causing BROWNE problems in the first set: a 12-26 win for NETSIRI. It was a start the Brit could not seem to overcome. NETSIRI (photo) led from beginning to end, and won Thailand's first ever World Championships gold medal in straight sets, 6-0.

Recurve women standing – Individual final
French archer Brigitte DUBOC seemed confident in her first international encounter with LIANG Qiurong from China. Three short, sharp sets saw DUBOC take victory, 6-0 - and gold in the recurve women's standing competition. It was the first and only title of these Championships for France.

Recurve men standing – Individual final
Triple gold medallist at the London Paralympics and individual bronze medallist at Turin in 2011, Russia's Timur TUCHINOV contested recurve men's standing gold with Ukrainian archer Yuriy KOPIY. TUCHINOV took the first set by six points, but the second was closer: judges had to take a closer look at KOPIY's last arrow, before confirming the set - and a 4-0 lead - to the Russian athlete. A one-point advantage in the third gained KOPIY some ground to 4-2, but TUCHINOV left no room for surprises in the fourth. It was victory, 6-2, for the Russian archer, and his first World Champion crown.

Recurve open – Mixed team finals
Spectators were treated to another dose of TUCHINOV immediately after the midday break, when he and Russian teammate Svetlana BARANTSEVA shot against Iranian pair Zahra NEMATI - going for her second gold of the day - and Roham SHAHABIPOUR for recurve mixed team bronze. Russia took a comfortable, 32-26, lead over the first end. But disaster struck in the second, with one miss and one shot after the time had run out. Highest scoring arrow in the target deducted for the late shot, TUCHINOV and BARANTSEVA suddenly found themselves 46-63 down to Iran! NEMATI and SHAHABIPOUR only increased their lead from there, cruising to a 129-107 victory and the bronze medal.

Already an individual bronze medallist at these Championships, Milena OLSZEWSKA paired with Piotr SAWICKI to represent Poland in its gold-medal tilt with Ukraine's Roksolana DZOBA-BALYAN and this morning's silver medallist Yuriy KOPIY. Poland led 33-30 initially, and opened the gap by another two points over the second end. Ukraine chipped one point out of the lead on the third end, and one point on the fourth, but it was not enough. Victory went to new World Champions OLSZEWSKA and SAWICKI (photo).

Recurve women open – Team finals
Turkey's recurve women's open team of Hatice BAYAR, Merve Nur EROGLU and Ozlem KALAY Turkey took to the line opposite Korea in the bronze medal match. LEE Mi Hyang won individual bronze earlier this week, while KIM Ran Sook and LEE Hwa Sook were team silver medallists in Turin. (The latter LEE is also a current Paralympic Team Champion.) With the wind affecting the Turkish team, Korea led 46-36 after the first end. KIM and the two LEEs did not offer Turkey any respite from there: 91-83 at halfway, effectively deciding the match in the third, before finally taking bronze, 180-156.

XIAO Yanhong, back after this morning’s individual silver and a team champion in Turin, LIANG Qiurong and MA Huan represented China in the final, against local Thai archers Priyaphon KAEOCHAEMCHAN, Wasana KHUTHAWISAP and Phannibha SRATHONGMAEW. As the wind continued to make its unwelcome presence felt, China seemed to cope better. XIAO, LIANG and MA took the lead from the beginning, and carried it through to the gold medal by a large victory margin.

Recurve men open - Team finals
The recurve men's open team bronze medal match pitted Koreans KIM Ji Nyun, LEE Hong Gu and 2011 team silver medallist LEE Hak Young against Great Britain. Kenny ALLEN and Phil BOTTOMLEY, joined by this morning's silver medallist Paul BROWNE, started strongly: with 53-48, and a five-point lead. Korea recovered, shortening the gap to two points at halfway - 99-97 - and tying the match 15 arrows in. The British trio did manage to take a one-point lead at the conclusion of the third end, but things fell apart after that. Korea found themselves with a seven-point advantage and three arrows left to shoot - but then their last arrow scored just three! Team GB had an opportunity to claim the see-sawing contest, and they did not waste it: 197-193 victory, and a bronze medal for BROWNE, ALLEN and BOTTOMLEY.

Timur TUCHINOV took to the field in his third final today, with Mikhail OYUN and Oleg SHESTAKOV, as current Paralympic and World Team Champions Russia looked to defend their title. Opposite them: three challengers from France. It was Stéphane GILBERT, Armando CABREIRA and Alexandre LASVENES who led initially: 49-48 after six arrows, 102-100 after twelve. But at 15 shots, Russia tied the score - before taking a 153-150 lead heading into the final end. France reduced the gap over their 19th, 20th and 21st arrows, but it's all they could manage as victory stuck with Russia. Final score: 200-198 - and a second World Champion team title in a row for OYUN, SHESTAKOV and TUCHINOV (photo).

In total, 17 countries climbed on the podium at the 2013 Para World Championships. Russia led the medal table with three gold medals; Great Britain collected two golds, three silvers and two bronze medals for second - and Turkey came third with its two golds. Great Britain's seven medals was the most of any competing country.

World Archery Communication