S. Korean worry in archery meet comes true
JAKARTA (JP): Neither the South Korean national anthem "Augug- ka" nor its Moldavian counterpart were sung in the medal presentation for the women's individual recurve winner at the 38th World Archery Championships here yesterday, startling the South Koreans most of all.
Natalia Valeeva of Moldova led the European coup d'etat over world's strongest archery powerhouse South Korea with a historical win in the women's Olympic round individual division.
Valeeva snatched her first world outdoor championship gold medal in her 14-year archery career with an emphatic 113-107 victory over surprising finalist Barbara Mensing of Germany.
"I have been eager to beat the South Koreans. Now I'm the best in the world," an elated Valeeva said. "I've been battling South Koreans for five years, and I know they are strong," she added.
Valeeva alarmed South Korea during Thursday's qualifying round when she emerged from the ashes to top the rankings going to yesterday's elimination round. Twice indoor champion Valeeva led the South Korean trio of Kim Jo-sun, Youn Youn-ja and Hwang Jin- hae with a score of 1,337.
"I think the South Korean coach made a mistake by fielding new archers," 26-year-old Valeeva, who took two bronzes in the 1992 Olympic Games, said.
South Korea's downfall began when Kim crashed to Mensing 158- 159 in the third round of the 64-field competition. Then Valeeva cleared her only South Korean hurdle in the form of Hwang with a close 103-102 quarterfinal win.
Youn struggled hard to save her country's pride when she cruised into the semifinal with a 107-106 win over Elif Altinnkaynak of Turkey. A buoyant Mensing, however, continued South Korea's woes as she toppled Hwang 111-105.
Hwang gave her team some consolation when she beat Elena Marfel of Germany 108-97 for the bronze.
Valeeva, a native of Tiraspole, Moldova, is now expecting another outdoor crown in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Despite Valeeva's win, the Moldovan women will need to battle it out in the European-Mediterranean Zone qualifying round for a place in the team event at the Olympics.
Olympic berths
The Aug. 1-6 championships provide 46 Olympic berths in both the men's and women's divisions. Archers who form a team which finishes among the top eight here will qualify for the Summer Games, regardless of their individual rankings.
The world archery body FITA also makes it clear that individual archers who finish in the top 22 will secure their Olympic tickets.
By these rules, Indonesia's chances of winning Olympic berths look slim as all three of its women athletes were rated outside the top 22. They may live up to their expectations if they manage to beat fourth seed Kazakhstan in tomorrow's team elimination round.
"I believe that Indonesia's chances to go to Atlanta remain wide open," FITA president James Easton said. Indonesia will have to play in the Asia championships, in which five Olympic places are up for grabs.
Countries which have already made it to the Olympics are not given extra berths. Each country is allowed only to field three archers who will compete in the individual and team divisions in the Olympics.
South Korea has a big chance to make up for its loss in the individual event by sweeping both the women's and men's team titles tomorrow.
As expected, the United States yesterday took the gold and silver medals in the men's individual compound bow division after Gary Broadhead beat teammate John Vozzy 110-106 in the final.
The advance of Australian Philip Tremelling to the third place, however, was not expected. He was in 12th place at the end of the qualifying round. But in yesterday's third-place play-off, he scored 110 to edge American Tom Crow by one point.
"This is the first time I took part in the world championships. I was very nervous at the start but then as the rounds advanced I gained more and more confidence," Tremelling told The Jakarta Post. Tremelling has been shooting compound for 10 years.
His performance was his personal best. In the world field championships in Norway five years ago, he only ranked 16th. Most recently, he took part in the New Caledonian Target Outdoor Championships last year and won first place.
For Broadhead as well as Vozzy, the victory was not a surprise, though this was their first time participating in the world championships.
It took Broadhead two and a half months to prepare himself for the championships here, during which he practiced about two hours everyday.
Broadhead, a representative of an archery equipment manufacturer, is serious no matter who he goes up against. "I never take any opponents lightly," said the 42 year old, who has been practicing archery for 16 years. (arf/amd)