China Archery

The junior women competed in their elimination matches all the way to the gold medal final today (Aug 20, 2010) at the Youth Olympic Games. The title went to KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) ahead of TAN Ya-Ping (TPE) and Tatiana SEGINA (RUS).

1/8 elimination round:

Lidiia SICHENIKOVA (UKR) vs SONG Jia (CHN)

Lidiia SICHENIKOVA (UKR) was 3rd in Cadet at the 2008 Youth World Archery Championships.However her opponent SONG had a better start with 8-9-10 and 9-10-10 to lead 4-0, while the rain stopped. The Ukrainian responded in the third set with a 9-10-10 of her own to reduce the score a 2-4. Then SICHENIKOVA scored a 7-9, while SONG did 8-8. Both archers finished the fourth set with 10s and the Chinese athlete kept the lead 5-3. SICHENIKOVA tried to put pressure with a 9-9 10 in the last set, but SONG responded with 10-10-9 to win the match 7-3!

Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE)
The Turkish archer won the individual bronze at the 2010 Senior European Championships and at the first mixed team/mixed countries event at these Singapore Youth Olympic Games yesterday! She did not have the best start however with 9-8-8, while her opponent scored 9-9-10 to take a 2-0 lead. UNSAL came back on the second with 8-9-10, while TAN did 9-7-9, 2-2. On the third set, the Chinese Taipei athlete scored 10-10-10 to lead 4-2! UNSAL started the fourth set with a 7 and pretty much abandoned her chances for another victorious day. TAN scored 9-10-10 in the fourth set to win the match 6-2.

That concluded the morning session. The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches were shot in the afternoon.

Quarterfinals

SONG Jia (CHN) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE)
TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) is No. 69 in the world and she placed 9th at the recent Ogden World Cup in August 2000 and 4th in the Taipei City Grand Prix this year. She was more consistent in the first set with 9-9-9, while SONG had 8-7-10. TAN led 2-0. The continued with 9-10-10 to lead 4-0. SONG tried to come back, shooting a 9. She followed it up with a 6 and an 8.
TAN remained focuse and shot 8-8-10 to take the match 6-0!
The top four seeded archers from the qualifications reached the semifinals!

Semifinals

Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE)
The archer from Chinese Taipei shot the first arrow of this match, a 6 that released the pressure on SEGINA. The young Russian won the set 28-26. TAN came back superbly with a series of 10-10-10 to win the second set. The archers were tied at 2-2. TAN won the third set 8-9-10 to 8-8-10 to lead 4-2. She shot a total of 29 in the last set to surpass SEGINA’s 26 and advance to the gold medal final.

Gold Medal Final

KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE)
The leader from qualifications KWAK met the No 2 TAN in this final. The Korean couldn’t have hoped for a better start (10-10-10). TAN replied with a perfect second set (KWAK had 10-10-8) to come back at 2-2. It seemed like both archers really wanted the gold medal.

The third set was KWAK’s, who three more 10s to take the lead 4-2. With a total of 29 she overcame her opponent in the last set to win the gold medal!
The 117 points shot by KWAK with her 12-arrows would have been a junior world record under the previous competition format.

Vanahé ANTILLE/Didier MIEVILLE
World Archery Communication
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The Naqu Horse Racing Fair is a grand local festival in the grasslands of northern Tibet Autonomous Region. It is usually held in August when the pasture is lush and the horses are strong. Every year, the week long event attracts hundreds of herdsmen as well as tourists to enjoy the festive mood.

Of course, the event includes horse racing, but there are also archery competitions, picking up hada (a type of long silk scarf), and displays of traditional horsemanship.

Herdsmen begin training their horses one month ahead of the competition. To some of them, the horses are even more important than their lives. On the Northern Tibet Plateau, horse racing is a tradition that enjoys a long history. The fair also included dancing performances and opportunities for business and trade.

Source: CNTV.CN

On 4 August 2010, the new Guinness World Records™ accomplishment for the largest archery tournament was set in Balaga’ergaole Town, Xiwuzhumuqin County, Inner Mongolia, China. 1,024 archers took part in the tournament, breaking the previous record of 332.

The competition was organized by the People’s Government of Xiwuzhuuqin County. The participants were from Xiwuzhumuqin county and nearby regions. The opening ceremony of the archery tournament was held on 3 August 2010. At the opening ceremony, the archers gave an archery demonstration after which the competition started. During the 2-day competition, 1,024 participants took part.

As the attempt adhered to the guidelines of Guinness World Records™, Adjudicator Angela Wu announced the attempt a success and presented the official certificate to the organizer.

This is the third Guinness World Record™ record set by Xiwuzhumuqin County. The record for the largest Mongolian wrestling tournament and most runners in a horse race were set in the same place in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

By Angela Wu