Russian Archers Show İn Dubai , Archery World Cup Final

India wins a World Cup Final !
Dubai – 24 November 2007



Dola Banerjee from India has taken the World Cup Title in the Recurve Women division today in beautiful Dubai! She beat the Korean Choi Eun Young in a very tight and exciting match on a 70-meter floating platform at the Madinat Jumeirah Souk venue. In Men Recurve the best archer of the season, Russian Baljinima Tsyrempilov took the win over young, promising Mexican Juan Rene Serrano. In the Compound category, a pregnant lady, Petra Ericsson of Sweden won the World Cup title in the women’s side, while Salvadorian star Jorge Jimenez clinched victory in the men’s competition.

Recurve Men

In the final match of the day and final match of the 2007 Meteksan Archery World Cup, the Russian Baljinima Tsyrempilov, who had proved the more regular archer this year, was facing the up-and-coming star from Mexico Juan Rene Serrano. The two athletes started strong both with two 10s and a 9 (29-29). In the second end Tsyrempilov shot a triple 9 for a score of 56 points. Serrano lost one point over his opponent with a 9-8-9 series (55). The Mexican managed to remain close in the third end with 10-9-9 (83), while his Russian contender scored 8-10-10 (84). Shooting 10-9-9 Tsyrempilov drew out his experience at the end and he managed to hold off Serrano who finished with 8-9-10. Final score 112-110 and first World Cup Final victory for the Russian! After his victory over Serrano, Baljinima Tsyrempilov said he was not really surprised to win here: “I am very pleased to win but I am not surprised. I came to this World Cup final as the number one ranked archer and so I had to show that I was the number one and I did that. Experience is important. I have won many titles in the past and it is this experience that helps in the most important matches.” For the bronze medal of this division Michele Frangilli of Italy was facing Alan Wills of Great Britain. After a difficult start Wills took advantage of a bad shot from his opponent in the last end – Frangilli shot a 4 (!) at that time – to turn the match over and clinch victory and on the score of 103-102.

Recurve Women

The gold medal match in Recurve Women was between Dola Banerjee of India and Choi Eun Young of Korea! It was Choi who was shooting first and she started with 9-9-10 (28). Banerjee was trailing behind by 1 point after the first end with 10-8-9 (27). The Korean started the second end with an 8 but went on with two 10s to keep her short lead over her opponent who scored two 9s and one 10 (56-55). The two athletes were very close to each other. They both shot 10-9-10 and the lead remained to Choi (85-84). Spectators thought it was the end of Banerjee's hopes when she shot an 8 with her tenth arrow... but Choi released a 7 at this point! The score was tied! Both continued with a 9 and it was still tied. With an 8 at the last arrow by Banerjee, Choi would need a 9 to win... She shot an 8 (!) and offered victory and the World Cup title to the Indian! Dola Banerjee after her upset over Korean Choi Eun Young: “That is the biggest victory for me. The Koreans are always very strong. I didn’t feel very good at the start of the semi-final – my concentration was not good. But towards the end of that match I found my focus and that continued into the final. Perhaps I put too much pressure on myself in the semi-final but in the final I felt more relaxed.” No 1 ranked in the World Natalya Erdyniyeva was facing 2007 World Cup Winner Zhang Juan Juan in this bronze medal match of this division. The Russian Erdyniyeva didn’t start well but went stronger and stronger. She also benefited from a 6 by the defending champion to clinch victory on the final score of 106-103.

Compound Men

The second gold medal match was between Salvadorian star Jorge Jimenez and 2007 World Indoor Champion Braden Gellenthien of the USA. The latter opened solidly with 9-10-10, but his opponent started even stronger with a perfect 10-10-10 series! In the second end, it was Gellenthien's turn to shoot perfectly and he reached 59 points out of a possible 60. Jimenez scored 29 points in this end and the match was tied at the half-way mark (59-59!) With the next three arrows, Jimenez shot three 10s again and took a 1-point advantage for the second time of the match. Gellenthien shot 10-10-9 and the score was now 89-88 in favour of his contender. With 10-9-9 in the last end, the American did not manage to put enough pressure on the experienced Salvadorian. Jimenez shot 10-9-10 to win victory here in Dubai! After beating Braden Gellenthien, Jorge Jimenez said: “I was very nervous in fact. I just had to keep saying to myself that I should focus on the target. I was able to do this and it helped me to win the match. It has been a very good year for me and this is a special way to end it. This has been my best year.” In the bronze medal match the Brazilian Roberval Dos Santos was facing the French Sebastien Brasseur. The match was tight all the way through, and it was finally the Brazilian who proved stronger at the end. He clinched victory on the final score of 116-114.

Compound Women
This gold medal match in Compound Women was to open the live TV coverage session. It featured the defending World Cup Winner, Sofia Goncharova from Russia and a pregnant happy lady, Petra Ericsson of Sweden. It was the Swede who shot first and she opened the match with a 9. Her opponent started with a liner, but it was a 9, as well. Ericsson went on strong with two 10s for a score of 29 out of 30. Goncharova was already trailing by 4 points (25-29). Ericsson did not want to let any point go and shot another 29-point end. She was thus leading by 7 after Goncharova shot 10-8-8 (58-51). How relaxed she seemed, the Swede! And she continued with a perfect triple 10 to reach 88 out of a possible 90, with only three arrows to go. Goncharova seemed totally out of her form on her side, and the match was clinched even before the last arrow. Petra Ericsson of Sweden was the first winner of the day and the new World Cup Winner in Compound Women on the final score of 115-105! When we asked Petra Ericsson how expecting a baby has impacted on her archery, she answered: “It affects me a bit but it’s been ok. Fortunately the baby kept quiet and still in the final because there had been a couple of kicks in the semi-final.” The bronze medal match in Compound Women was between the American Jamie Van Natta and the Russian Anna Kazantseva. The Russian left all hopes behind when she scored a triple 8, which is quite unusual for Compound competitors. Van Natta took advantage of this and clinched an easy victory (114-106) to win the first bronze medal of the day!

What next?
After the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens in 2004 and the Maya Pyramids in Mexico last year, Archery has just lived another fantastic competition on a special floating platform in wonderful Dubai! The Red Fort or the Asian Gate is already planned for New Delhi in 2008 and the bidding is opened for 2010 and 2011. Where will be the next incredible archery event!?

Ludivine Maitre Wicki
FITA Communication

- Article Source : http://www.archery.org/