On Wednesday June 7th, the Stage 2 of the Meteksan Archery World Cup will start in Antalya and the competition will be as exciting as we have seen in Porec (CRO) last month. Since this is the 2nd sta

Archery World Cup Stage 2:  Antalya !

Antalya will pave the way to the Final.

Lausanne - June 02, 2006. On Wednesday June 7th, the Stage 2 of the Meteksan Archery World Cup will start in Antalya and the competition will be as exciting as we have seen in Porec (CRO) last month. Since this is the 2nd stage out of 4, it will start to be clear who can claim the top 4 spots and enter the Final in Mexico later on this year.

The recurve bow event will see the Korean team arriving and they brought a very strong squad. The Korean men’s team is composed of the Olympic Gold Team from Athens: Jang Yong-Ho (the 90m World Record holder), Park Kyung-Mo (winner of the Antalya Grand Prix in 2003) and Im Dong Hyun (current Asian Champion and 2nd at the WC 2003). They are accompanied by the 2001 World Champion Yeon Jung Ki. Also for the first time competing at the Meteksan Archery World Cup is Hiroshi Yamamoto from Japan. The silver medalist from Athens might want to have a rematch with Olympic Champion Marco Galiazzo (ITA) who finished 4th in Porec. Michele Frangili (ITA) who had a disappointing start in Porec will also have his role to play. The big question everyone is asking if Jayanta Talukdar from India will give a chance to all of these archers to renew with victory. After winning in Bangkok and Porec this year, the glorious homecoming in India will for sure be an inspiration to the new Indian star and he will be as motivated as ever.   Korean Men’s Team: Gold in Athens 2004   The Korean women’s recurve team is led by the World Champion and Olympic Individual silver medalist, Lee Sung Jin. She is accompanied by the 16 year old Lee Tuk Young (who obtained silver at the 2005 World Championships); Yun Ok Hee (who is the silver medalist at the 2005 Asian Championships) and Kim Yu Mi (who finished 5th at the Asian Grand Prix tournament in Korea last year). Galinovskaya from Russia and the Italians, Lionetti and Frigeri, who finished respectively 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Porec will have their word to say before the medals are distributed on the 10th June. Nasaridze from Turkey and Jennifer Nichols from USA, the latter being coached by the legendary coach Lee Ki-Sik, will also be serious contenders.

In the Compound Event, we will see once more Dominique Genet (FRA) and Emiel Custers (NED) fighting to confirm their Porec performance but the outsider could be Patrizio Hofer (SUI) who shot an amazing 710 points out of a possible 720 in a tournament two weeks ago. This score, which is 2 points higher than the current world record, could not be homologated since the tournament was not registered for world record status. Other archers to watch are Dejan Sitar (SLO), Clint Freeman (AUS) and Morten Boe (NOR), who did not perform as expected in Porec and need to do well in order to save their chances to go to the Final. We will see if the absence of the American team will change the parameters of the event. To note, the 3 best rankings in the whole series count in the World Cup, so it is possible to miss one of the events.

The women’s compound event will be for sure dominated by the strong Russian team under the leadership of Anna Kazantseva-Bologova (winner in Porec last May and in Antalya last year) and the Mexican team under the leadership of Almendra Ochoa and Arminda Bastos. Valerie Favre (FRA) and Gladys Willems (BEL) will be the outsiders to keep an eye on.
 
The program of the event
June 7 Qualifications
June 8 Women’s 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, Semi-finals Individual
Men’s 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, Semi-finals Individual
June 9
Women & Men Team round - 1/8, 1/4, Semi-finals
17h00: Team medal matches
June 10
17h00: Individual medal matches 
  
Stage 3 in San Salvador
To note, most of these top archers will shoot again just two weeks after Antalya at the stage 3 of the Meteksan Archery in San Salvador (ESA).

All related info are on www.archeryworldcup.org  
Didier Miéville / Tom Dielen
FITA Communication