7 takeaways: Rio 2016 individual eliminations day 3
After three days of matches, and in darkness, the early elimination phase of the Rio 2016 Olympic archery competition came to an end in the Sambodromo.
The 128-strong field - 64 men and 64 women - was cut down to 32 athletes. Sixteen athletes of each gender will compete on individual finals days, the women on 11 August and men on 12 August.
Here are seven takeaways from day three...
1. Asia
Asia will be the most represented continent on the finals days of the Rio 2016 archery competition. Seventeen Asian athletes reached the last 16, meaning the region makes up a little more than half of the remaining 32-strong field.
Five Korean archers - out of six, after the number-one ranked man lost in the second round on Monday – and three Indian athletes – out of four – made it to the finals days.
“It is a family tradition to do archery, my mother was also a good archer and I'm following the family tradition,” India’s Bombayla Devi Laishram said.
Europe takes 25% of the final 32 athletes with eight still in the race for a medal, closely followed by the Americas with six. Australia’s Taylor Worth is the lone athlete from Oceania still in, when Africa is out.
2. Still in
Runner-up at the London Games, Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa dropped just a single set point through his first two matches. Seeded seventh in Rio, if he goes any better than he did at the last Games, he’ll walk away with Olympic gold.
3. 1st win
Crispin Duenas has finally clinched a victory in matchplay at the Olympics. At his third Games, Crispin lost in the first round in both Beijing and London.
Seeded 18th after qualification in Rio, the Canadian archer faced nothing less than individual Olympic Champion from 2004, Marco Galiazzo. The match went to a shoot-off, in which Duenas shot a 10 to better his opponent’s nine.
The second round did not go Crispin's way. He lost, 7-3, to a team silver-medal winner in Rio in Zach Garrett.
“I'm coming in ranked 20th in the world. The fact that I'm leaving with a ranking that's higher than my world ranking is probably a good thing for my ego for one,” said Crispin.
4. out
After a strong qualification performance, third-seeded man David Pasqualucci became the second top man to fall out of the competition. After a straight set victory, 6-0, over Malawi’s Areneo David, the Italian archer fell to number-35 ranked Antonio Fernandez, 6-2.
“He [Fernandez] shot very strong. This is life. This is the sport. I wasn’t feeling too good and that's why I lost the match,” Pasqualucci said.
Asked what he would change if he could replay the match, he replied: “I would change my technique and my nerves.”
5. 2 for 2
Germany’s Lisa Unruh and Florian Floto both made their debut at the Games in Brazil – and both German athletes cleared the first two rounds of matchplay.
Unruh beat Leidys Brito and Gabriela Bayardo, Floto passed Samuli Piippo and Khairul Anuar Mohamad.
“I have been shooting since I was eight and now I’m 28, so with my 20 years of doing this, I feel like I’m the king and I have the crown,” said Floto.
6. Rodriguez-cellent
Spain’s Juan Rodriguez gave a faultless performance in the Sambodromo arena, with two straight-set wins – and shot seven 10s out of nine against Robin Ramaerkers in the second round. A click on the sight and it could have been perfect.
“I did this without much difference. I tried to shoot my arrows the same way as I do in training. I had some problems with the rain, the wind on the warm-up field, but when extra pressure is on me, I get more concentrated and shoot better groups,” he said.
Rodriguez’s previous international results have all come as part of the Spanish men’s team.
7. All-USA
The eighth, and last, men’s third-round match on Friday will be a fight between USA teammates, Zach Garrett and second seed Brady Ellison. Garrett defeated Malaysia’s Haziq Kamaruddin and Canada’s Duenas in his first two matches.
“I'm nervous, I'm sure he's nervous,” Zach said. “I want the best for him and he wants the best for me, we both have a ton of respect for each other, we expect to be on team with each other for a long time.”
Ellison already had to beat his other teammate, Jake Kaminski, in the second round – and the trio won team silver together earlier in the week in Rio.
The Rio 2016 Olympic archery competition continues with individual finals days on 11-12 August.
