Tonga, Fiji and Australia add Olympic places at Oceania qualifier

Tonga won a pair of Olympic quota spaces, courtesy of Siosifa Taumoepeau’s second-place finish in the recurve men’s qualifying tournament and a fourth place from Lusi Tatafu in the women’s event – where the top three finishers were all from Australia, with Semra Ferguson in first.

Two places were available in each of the men’s and women’s competitions, with a maximum of one spot in each event going to any one nation.

Australia was the only country from the continent to have Olympic places already assured after picking up a full men’s team quota at the 2015 World Archery Championships. With Ferguson’s women’s spot, it brought its total for Rio to four.

Two-time Olympian Robert Elder, from Fiji, won the men’s qualifying tournament. Elder is the only Fijian to compete in archery at the Games, placing 48th in Athens in 2004 and 33rd in London.

He memorably faced second-seed Kim Bubmin in the first round at the 2012 Olympics and took a 4-0 lead in the match, coming extremely close to upsetting one of the tournament favourites early in the event. Ultimately, Kim launched a comeback to save the contest and advance, 6-4.

Each place won is assigned to the archers’ National Olympic Committees and must be accepted before it is confirmed. Teams may then hold internal qualifications to determine who represents the country at the Games, but those archers must have attained the minimum qualifying standards: 630 points on the 72-arrow 70-metre round for men and 600 points for women.

Rio 2016 – Oceania quota Places

  • Semra Ferguson 
  • Lusi Tatafu 
  • Siosifa Taumoepeau 
  • Robert Elder 
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