S. Korea, U.S. steal the show at archery meet<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): South Korea and the United States shared the
\nlimelight in the first day of the 38th World Archery
\nChampionships when they topped the qualifying round standings in
\nrecurve and compound events.<\/p>\n
South Korea paraded new faces but managed to live up to the
\ncountry's billing as an archery powerhouse. The South Korean male
\nand female athletes dominated the qualifying round in the recurve
\ncompetition, the only archery division accepted as an Olympic
\nevent.<\/p>\n
It was an American show in the compound event, the newest
\ncategory since the world archery championships began in 1931. The
\nUnited States has its sights set to sweep all four golds offered
\nin this new division when its male and female archers took
\ncommand in both the individual and team competitions.<\/p>\n
All archers will complete the qualifying round today. Only 64
\nathletes and 16 teams are eligible for the medal race tomorrow.
\nThose who finish first in the qualifying round will earn top
\nseeds and will start tomorrow's elimination round against their
\nbottom-placed qualifiers.<\/p>\n
The trio of Youm Youn-ja, Kim Jo-sun and Hwang Jin-hae opened
\nSouth Korea's flawless stride. They finished first, second and
\nthird respectively after two compulsory disciplines yesterday.
\nThey also totaled 1,969 to open up a 24-point gap with second-
\nplaced Turkey.<\/p>\n
Indonesian women's team which upset South Korea in the Asian
\nGames last year got off to a shaky start as it collected just
\n1,860 points placing it 13th among 25 teams.<\/p>\n
In the men's category, South Korea's Oh Kyo-moon, Kim Jae-rak
\nand Lee Kyung-chul produced another clean sweep after shooting
\nfrom 90m and 70m.<\/p>\n
Scoring 1,976 points, they left the U.S. trailing in second
\nplace by 51 points. The U.S.' three-time world champion Richard
\nMcKinney and Korean Lee both scored 342 from 70m, two points
\nshort of the world record established by Japan's Hiroshi Yamamoto
\nin 1990.<\/p>\n
A total of eight gold medals are up for grabs in the Aug. 1-6
\nworld archery meet being held here for the first time. The
\noverall champion will bring home the President Soeharto's Cup.<\/p>\n
The trophy was given to the world archery body during the
\nopening ceremony on Tuesday, marking the formal acceptance of a
\nCup to substitute the original trophy which went missing during
\nWorld War II.<\/p>\n
Compound<\/p>\n
The compound event was dominated by Americans Gary Broadhead
\nand John Vozzy, sharing the men's individual leadership after
\nfinishing the 90m and 70m distances with a total score of 656.<\/p>\n
Their teammate Tom Crowe managed only 647, but it was enough
\nto put the Americans on course to win the team gold medal. The
\nU.S. team topped the 22-field list with 1,959.<\/p>\n
Canada trailed in a distance second after Hermel Volde, Brian
\nBagnall and Jean-Claude Lacerte orchestrated a total score of
\n1,926.<\/p>\n
The American female archers followed in the footsteps of their
\nmale teammates. Michelle Ragsdale and Inga Low scored 656 and 654
\nafter shooting from 70m and 60m to place first and third.<\/p>\n
Ragsdale scored 334 from 60m to equal the world record set by
\nCanadian Lilian Jarvis two years ago.<\/p>\n
\"I believe our team excel at the compound division because we
\nhave more experience in that division than the other countries
\ndo,\" Michel King, head coach of the U.S. team, told The Jakarta
\nPost yesterday. King added that the compound division is an
\nAmerican invention dating back to about 1968.<\/p>\n
\"It's also easier to get high scores with compound bows than
\nthe traditional ones which need more physical work,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The compound bow appears to be more complex and better
\ntechnologically, and I think that's the reason why more than 80
\npercent of our archers shoot compound,\" King added.<\/p>\n
South Korea, poised to maintain its Olympic archery gold
\nmedals, is not taking part in the compound event. \"We have been
\ntraditionally playing recurve archery. It's far more difficult
\nthan the compound, but we like the challenge,\" South Korean head
\ncoach Lee Ki-sik said. (arf\/amd)<\/p>",
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