U.S. archers shrug off compound bow challenge<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The United States benefited from its experience
\nto establish world records in the compound division at the 38th
\nWorld Archery Championships yesterday.<\/p>\n
Gary Broadhead, Tom Crowe and John Vozzy finished first,
\nsecond and third to orchestrate a world record mark of 3,978.<\/p>\n
Their female teammate, Michelle Ragsdale, the winner of the
\ncompound bow division at last year's World Field Championships in
\nVertus, France, also set a world record from 30m with 347 to nail
\na total of 1,329, her second world mark yesterday.<\/p>\n
Second to her was Chinese Taipei's Lin Shih-Chien who scored
\n1,324. Ragsdale's teammate, Inga Low, came third with 1,320.<\/p>\n
Vice president of the world archery body Donald Lovo said the
\nAmericans' scores were considered world records because they were
\nset at the first world championships ever to include the compound
\nbow division.<\/p>\n
Meet organizers failed to announce the final results after the
\nqualifying rounds in both the men's and women's Olympic divisions
\ndue to computer breakdown.<\/p>\n
\"We are fixing the computers. We don't know exactly what
\nhappened with them,\" Parsi, a public relations staff member on
\nthe committee said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. head coach, Michel King, said he was not surprised
\nwith his teams' brilliant performance.<\/p>\n
But Ragsdale could not hide her delight. \"Today is a good day
\nfor me,\" a modest Ragsdale told The Jakarta Post, adding that she
\nhad prepared for the Jakarta meet for only three months.<\/p>\n
Her excellent performance can be traced to her lifelong
\ninvolvement in archery. Ragsdale has been shooting since she was
\nseven year old. In all, she has been friends with her arrows for
\n22 years.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the compound bow division will be included in the
\nOlympic Games by the year 2000,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Natalia Valeeva of Moldova clawed her way back to hand
\nfavorite South Korea an early shock when she took over the lead
\nin the qualifying round of the women's individual Olympic
\ndivision.<\/p>\n
Valeeva produced a superb comeback from 10th place to outclass
\nthe South Korean trio in the third compulsory shooting distance
\nyesterday. Valeeva shot an emphatic score of 338 from 50-meter to
\ndethrone the South Koreans as they head toward tomorrow's medal
\nrace.<\/p>\n
The Moldovan completed the three compulsory distances with 986
\npoints, followed by South Koreans Youn Youn-ja, Kim Jo-sun and
\nHwang Jin-hae who scored 982, 981, 980 respectively.<\/p>\n
If Valeeva manages to maintain her lead, she will start
\ntoday's elimination competition as the top seed and will play
\nJoanna Novicka of Poland in the first round.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know why today they (the South Koreans) did not
\nappear as strong as they usually are. Perhaps this is just a
\ntactics. Let's see who's better tomorrow,\" Valeeva told the Post.<\/p>\n
\"We may miss the first place but the game isn't over yet,\"
\nSouth Korean head coach Lee Ki-sik said. \"My archers did not play
\nin their top form,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Lee is fielding new faces in place of South Korea's triumphant
\n1993 championship team.<\/p>\n
The South Korean women made up for their failure in the
\nindividual event, topping the team's standings with a massive
\nscore of 2,943. Turkey trailed with 2,913.<\/p>\n
Valeeva's outstanding feat, however, was meaningless to her
\nteam. The Moldovan squad finished 17th, five places behind the
\nIndonesian trio. Only 16 teams are eligible for the medal race.<\/p>\n
Indonesian women's archers made it to today's medal race in
\nboth the individual and team events. Those who make it through
\nthe day will assure themselves of berths at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Only Hamdiah, who scored 941 for 32nd place, appeared to have
\na chance as she prepares for her first-round battle against Yang
\nChun-chi of Chinese Taipei who placed 33rd yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think tomorrow's game will be that easy. Yang and I
\nhave a very close margin,\" Hamdiah commented. (arf\/amd)<\/p>",
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