Another gold medal for Reo WILDE

Singapore – Dec 11, 2011: The star of the tournament Reo WILDE (USA) did not let any chance to his opponents at the first ever Indoor Archery World Cup Stage in Singapore! He won the compound men category. CHEN Hsin FU (TPE) took gold in Recurve Men, YU Wen Yi (TPE) in Recurve Women, and Sandrine VANDIONANT-FRANGILLI (FRA) in Compound Women.

All matches were shot using the set system as per the official rules. The matches are played out of the best of five sets of three arrows. There are two points to win per set; hence one point goes to each athlete in case of a tied set. The first athlete with 6 set points wins the match. If the match is tied at 5-5 in set points, there is a one-arrow only shoot-off. The arrow closest to centre wins the match!

Recurve Men:

The winner of last year Indoor World Cup Challenge (predecessor of the World Cup), Michele FRANGILLI (ITA), was upset in the quarterfinal by Ivan YOTOV (BUL)!

The Bulgarian overcame a 1 set point to 5 deficit by winning the last two sets 29-28 and 30-29 to tie the game at 5 set points each. In the shoot-off FRANGILLI shot a much unexpected 7 (considering he has been one of the top indoor archers in the world for the last 15 years) and YOTOV’s 8 was enough for the upset! In another shoot-off, the home favourite Tan Si LIE (SIN) defeated LIN Yu Chen (TPE) 9-7! Thomas AUBERT (FRA) and CHEN Hsin FU (TPE) also went through the semifinal.

The No. 13 CHEN continued to surprise his world when he won his semifinal 6-0 against YOTOV. In the final, he would play AUBERT. The Frenchman beat the Singaporean LIE. For bronze Tan Si LIE (SIN) did too many mistakes to pretend winning a medal on home soil.

An 8 in the first set and a 6 in the second set put him in a hole, 0-4. YOTOV scored a 6 of his own in the third set to allow the Singaporean to come back at 2-4. However, the experienced Bulgarian, who is actually coaching now in Singapore, scored 10-10-10 in the fourth set to beat one of the best Singaporean hopefuls for the future, 6-2.

After a tied first set (29-29), AUBERT dropped an 8 and a 9 that cost him the second set (27-29) in the gold final. The two archers made the show in the third set: 10-10-9 for AUBERT and 10-10 and a liner 10 for CHEN. He took a 5-1 lead. The athlete from the Chinese Taipei, seeded No. 13, had a hot afternoon!

He beat a higher seed for the fourth time in this tournament. He finished with a perfect 10-10-10 to prevail over the No. 2, AUBERT, 7-1!

Recurve Women:

Another Indoor World Cup Challenge defender, Louise LAURSEN (DEN), went down in a shoot-off. She was defeated by the No. 2 seed YU Wen Yi (TPE) in a very tight match.

The five sets were actually all equal (30,28,28,29,28). Both archers had again the same score in the shoot-off (9), but YU was closer to the centre. Nathalie DIELEN (SUI) also upset the No. 1 seed LIN Shih Chia 7-3, while the Youth Olympic medallist TAN Ya Ting (TPE) and WU Chia Hung (TPE) reached the semis.

Two of the three remaining Chinese Taipei athletes did reach the gold final. WU beat DIELEN 7-1 (despite a close start) and YU defeated the Youth Olympian TAN in a tie-break. Both athletes scored 8 but YU was closer to centre!

In the bronze medal match, DIELEN started with a perfect 30 to take a 2-0 lead. However, the silver medallist of the Youth Olympic Games here in Singapore, TAN, took the second set to tie the match.

The third set was split (29-29). DIELEN, an experienced archer who brought Switzerland back to the Olympic Games in Beijing after 20 years of absence for the country, could not do anything against the talent of her young opponent in the last two sets. TAN scored 10-10-10 and 10-10-10 to win the bronze, 7 set points to 3.

High level shooting in the gold final! The athletes split the first set 29-29. Then YU scored 29 and 30 to take a 5-1 lead. However WU finished with 29 and 30 in the fourth and fifth set to come back at 5-5! In the shoot-off, WU scored a 9, while YU had 10 to clinch the gold!

Compound Men:

The No. 4 seed Rosendo SOMBRIO (PHI) and the No. 5 seed S. M. TAMBRCHI (IRI) went to a shoot-off. Both archers scored a 10 but the athlete from Iran was closer to the centre! The No. 7 seed Loo SUEH MING (MAS) surprised the No. 2 seed Lyndon MAY (AUS), 6-2. Reo WILDE (USA) and KOK FONG Kwong (SIN) also won.

The No. 7 seed SUEH MING continued his way. He beat the Singaporean KOK FONG, 6-2. WILDE also reached the final.

In the bronze match, KOK FONG and TAMBRCHI split the first set, 27-27. Then TAMBRCHI did one point better in the second set to take a 3-1 lead (28-27). However, KOK FONG raised the bar at 29 points in the third set to tie at 3-3 (29-28). Then TAMBRCHI scored a 29 of his own to regain lead, 5-3 (29-27). KOK FONG tried to put pressure in the last set with 10-10. However he finished with a 9. That opened the door for TAMBRCHI who shot 9-10-10 to win the match 6 set points to 4.

It was another perfect score in the gold final for Reo WILDE and his amazing career! He let not chance to SUEH MING: 30-28, 30-29, 30-27. Another gold medal for Reo WILDE!

Compound Women:

In the semifinal, the favourite Sandrine VANDIONANT-FRANGILLI (FRA) won 6-0 against N.A. MUSLIM (MAS). In the Singaporean dual, Contessa LOH defeated Alexiel GOH on the same score. Alexiel GOH was the most consistent archer in the compound women bronze medal match to beat N.A. MUSLIM (MAS) 6-0! Alexiel won a medal for the host country!

VANDIONANT-FRANGILLI (FRA) took the advantage in the first set (27-23). Contessa LOH was nevertheless perfect in the second round (30-29) to tie the match at 2-2. VANDIONANT-FRANGILLI regained the lead in the third set, 4-2 (29-28). Contessa, sister of Vanessa who competes in Recurve and took part at the Youth Olympic Games last year, could not catch the experienced VANDIONANT-FRANGILLI again. The Frenchwomen won the fourth set 29-28 to clinch the match 6-2.

This is the end of the Indoor Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Singapore! Meet us in Nimes, France, in January for Stage 2!