The international archery tournament accentuates composure more than skill as world No. 6 Nami Hayakawa from Japan was ousted by lowly ranked American archer Karen Scavotto here on Thursday.
Hayakawa lost the chance to reach the last 16 of women’s individual after losing 99-104 to Scavotto. Reactions from the two archers indicate that strong mentality dictates the result in archery competitions.
Hayakawa told she was bothered by the weather and her lack of composure was also a reason for her early exit.
“It’s windy today, and the wind direction at the shooting position is different from that of the target place,” complained Hayakawa.
“I had to judge by the flag in front of the target. The wind did affect my performance,” said the Japanese archer.
But answer from Scavotto about the wind is “I didn’t even notice it and I just focused on the shooting”.
Hayakawa acknowleged she was nervous through the match.
“I was very nervous because this was the first time I shot in Court A and was watched by so many spectators,” said Hayakawa. “She (Scavotto) is very calm today and performed very well.”
In contrast, on whether Scavotto felt pressure competing against Hayakawa who was ranked No. 6, Scavotto’s response is “not at all”.
“Not at all. What happens will happen. Today is a new day and the match is a new match,” said Scavotto.
“When I was shooting, I didn’t think about anything else and I didn’t pay much attention to my opponent either,” added she.
The archery tourney is one of a series of pre-Olympic trials in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
There are 113 archers from 27 nations and regions taking part in the tourney slated for Aug. 20-26.
(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)
