S. Korea fields new faces but still favorite
JAKARTA (JP): If there is a country which clearly understands William Shakespeare's "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown", it would have to be South Korea.
None of the eight South Korean archers at the 38th World Outdoor Archery Championships, which begin this morning at the Senayan ABC field, are world champions, record breakers or members of the teams that competed in the last world championships in Antalya, Turkey, in 1993.
In Antalya, Kim Hyo-jung, Cho Youn-jeong and veteran Lee Eun- kyung defeated Russia 236-224 to win the women's team competition. Their teammate Park Kyung-mo won the men's Olympic Round individual title, setting a world record of 119 (out of 120) in his semifinal match.
"Our former world champions were already ousted during the selection. That's why we didn't bring them here. Moreover, the newcomers are better," Lee Woong, who coaches the women's team, told The Jakarta Post.
The Jakarta archery meet, the first to include the compound bow division, was opened yesterday by President Soeharto. Soeharto passed a challenge trophy named after him to James Easton, the president of the World Archery Body FITA.
This marked the formal acceptance of the President Soeharto Cup as the substitute for the original trophy which was lost during the second World War.
Lee said he began the selection process with 50 men and 50 women. This means each archer had to take on the other 49 competitors. "Based on victory scores, we shortlisted them down to 32, then to 16 and to eight. Finally, we competed the eight three times to take the best four," Lee said.
"The best four according to the selection are those here," he added. The four women are Kim Jo-Sun, Cho Mi-suk, Youm Youn-ja and Hwang Jin-hae. The four men are Oh Kyo-moon, Lee Kyung-chul, Han Seung-hoon and Kim Jae-rak. Kim Jo-Sun and Oh-Kyo-moon had the highest scores during the selection.
Strongest
France, which toppled South Korea for the men's team gold in Antalya, and the United States deem South Korea the strongest side in both the men's and women's divisions.
"The level of competition in these championships is very high. Strong competitors will especially come from Korea, which has many new archers, and also from China and the United States," Barcelona Olympic champion Sebastien Flute said.
Flute led the French team to a surprise 294-244 victory over Korea in Antalya. He totaled 1,332 in the European Championships in the Czech Republic in August 1994.
In addition to Flute, France also relies on Sophie Dodemont, winner of the 1993 Mediterranean Games in Montpellier, Eric Unbekand and Lionel Torres who, together with Flute, made up the French men's team at the Antalya meet, and Carole Ferriou, who has twice won the world field archery championships.
"It's much harder to expect to win here," three-time world champion Richard Mc Kinney of the United States told the Post. "There are very good archers from Korea, and also from France," he added.
Kinney underlined South Korea's good coaching system, which has produced many young world-class archers who may easily surpass their seniors.
"If their senior archers show a little weakness, they already have a handful of new archers to replace them," Kinney said. "With us, the problem is that most of our potentially good archers whom we groom from childhood switch to another more popular sport such as basketball or rugby when they grow up," the 41-year-old champion added.
World-beating archers in the American line-up here include the 1988 Olympic silver medalist Denise Parker, Jennifer O' Donnel, world indoor champion two years ago, and world field champion Michelle Ragsdalle. (arf)