In Antalya, Turkey, the third stage of the Archery World Cup, which opened on May 27, proved to be very intense. On Wednesday afternoon, the first day of actual competitions, a new world record was created. In the team event of the recurve men’s qualifications, the athletes from the Republic of Korea (ROK) set a new world record for the 70m round (3 x 72 arrows) with 2,039 points. The Indians were close behind with a total of 2,035 points.
The final ranking of the teams is decided by adding up the individual points of each team member. Although the ROK athletes ended up first in the team rankings, Indian archer Mangal Singh Champia made it in the top place of the individual list with a mere X10 lead over Park Kyung-Mo of the ROK.
The ROK has always been strong in archery. Out of a total of 54 Olympic gold medals the country has secured, 14 have been in this event since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Yet, in the contest on Wednesday, the champions met another strong competitor – India. The two teams engaged in a fiery fight. Although India finished in second place, they still beat the previous record – 2,031 points, shot by ROK in 1996 — by four points.
In the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, the ROK is planning to gather 10 gold medals, which, they hope, can get them into the top ten of the gold medal list. Archery is one of their must-win sports, according to the country’s Olympic committee.
All qualified archers will enter the elimination rounds on May 29.
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(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)