The Hindu : Frangilli, Yun on top of the world

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 21, 2003

Sport

Sport - Archery

Frangilli, Yun on top of the world

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA JULY 20. World No. 3 Michele Frangilli of Italy edged out Dong-Hyun Im of South Korea 113-112 to win the men's Olympic round individual championship in New York on Saturday. In an all-Australian bronze medal decider, David Barnes defeated Tim Cuddihy 115-106.

South Korea, led by Olympic champion Mi-Jin Yun, swept all the medals in the women's section of the 42nd World archery outdoor championship.

The 20-year-old Yun, who dethroned 2001 World champion Sung Hyun Park 116-111, joined the legendary Kim Soo Nyung as the only Korean to hold both the Olympic and World titles at the same time.

Frangilli, in winning his first World championship title, gained a tremendous lead early on but had to stave off a late challenge of the teenaged Im. The two archers began the contest in a dazzling fashion shooting six straight 10s. Im faltered in the next two ends of three arrows, shooting two 8s and a 10 for a 53 out of a possible 60 points.

According to information received here, Frangilli took a commanding 87-83 lead into the last end of three arrows. However, after trading 10s with Im, the Italian shot his first eight of the match with his second final arrow. Im shot a second 10 and pulled within two points.

The young Korean shot a 9 with his final arrow and allowed Frangilli seal the World title with an 8.

For Frangilli, a two-time Olympic medallist, the triumph capped an endearing run of success in recent years. This is the third consecutive year a World title has come his way.

He won the World indoor crown in 2001, the World field title in 2002, and now the most coveted crown of all, the World outdoor.

Yun, ranked second behind Natalia Valeeva of Italy before the World meet, was thrilled to see team-mate Huyn-Jung Lee defeat Russia's Margarita Galinovskaya to win the bronze medal to give 1-2-3 sweep to Korea.

The Korean archers had taken the top three positions at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as also the team championship.

The results:

Men (12 arrows): Final: Michele Frangilli (Ita) 113 bt Dong Hyun Im (Kor) 112. Bronze medal: David Barnes (Aus) 115 bt Tim Cuddihy (Aus) 106. Semifinals: Frangilli 109 bt Cuddihy 107; Im 112 bt Barnes 107. Quarterfinals: Cheng-pang Wang (Tpe) 109 lost to Frangilli 110; Cuddihy 108 bt Hasse Pavia Lind (Den) 107; Im 110 bt Wietse van Alten (Ned) 108; Barnes 115 bt Szu Yuan Chen (Tpe) 108.

Women (12 arrows): Final: Mi-Jin Yun (Kor) 116 bt Sung-hyun Park (Kor) 111. Bronze medal: Huyn-Jung Lee (Kor) 107 bt Margarita Galinovskaya (Rus) 102. Semifinals: Park 111 bt Galinovskaya 104; Lee 107 lost to Yun 107, 1. Quarterfinals: Park 115 bt Linlin Xu (Chn) 97; Galinovskaya 110 bt Juan Juan Zhang (Chn) 109; Natalia Veleeva (Ita) 105 lost to Lee 109; Kateryna Palekha (Ukr) 103 lost to Yun 114.

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