Eliminations
The best bits from three days of knockouts
With the team rounds done, the individual phase could begin. The structure of this was simple, to make it through to the last 16 and the final day – Friday for women, and Saturday for men – you had to win two matches, the 1/32 and the 1/16. Archers were arranged into brackets of four, from which only one would progress.
The process took three long days, but ensured that all archers had their day in the sun and at least one televised match on the big stage. It is a unique feature of the Olympics that happens in no other international competition, where elimination rounds are held simultaneously.
An incoming typhoon caused the competition on Tuesday to be delayed to Wednesday and Thursday, resulting in some brutally long days for the venue staff and officials. In the end, the typhoon veered away a couple of hundred miles north of Tokyo, but by then the schedule was set. Nevertheless, for many archers from smaller nations who lose their first outing, it's a pretty short competitive Olympic experience; many years of work building to just seven minutes on a stage. Typhoons may have skipped past the field, but the eliminations days were still marked by tricky winds, rain, sun, thunder and humidity. There were many surprises and little stories along the way, although we only have space for a couple.
Koreans out
After the roaring excitement of Kim Je Deok lit up the mixed team and men's team rounds, most were expecting him to be at the business end of the tournament. But Germany’s Florian Unruh beat Je Deok in five sets, 7-3, in the second round on Tuesday. A baffled-looking Kim apparently couldn't believe what he was posting on the board. Unruh showed incredible composure to push out the number one seed.
“In my thoughts, he would be better, but my only goal was to shoot good and use the opportunities,” said Unruh. “If I’m honest, I thought my chance was a little bit less. A chance, of course, everyone has a chance here. It’s a finals field, it’s a match, not many arrows – so a chance, of course.”
Kim, for his part, showed class and perspective to the press afterwards. “Every athlete who participates in these Games, they’re all going to say it’s bad. But I think I will have lots of opportunities in the future, so I don’t feel so bad. I will have another chance,” said Kim.
Of the Korean women, second seed Jang Minhee was pushed out of the draw by local hero Miki Nakamura of Japan who – like Florian Unruh – showed composure and took her opportunities. Bow would love to be able to tell you what she said afterwards, but Jang walked into the press mixed zone, stood in front of the microphone, broke down in tears and walked straight back out again without saying a word.
Finally, third seed Oh Jin Hyek exited on Thursday to Atanu Das of India in a shootoff. Atanu has been on form this year and the result was not a huge shock. Still, just one Korean man would progress to the final 16, which must have caused some consternation among the white hats.
sjef bows out
Sjef van den Berg of the Netherlands, who had placed fourth in Rio and had signalled the end of his international archery career, had started his hunt for an individual medal with a 7-3 victory over Frenchman Jean-charles Valladont, who had defeated him in the semi-finals in Rio. However, van den Berg’s farewell tournament ended against Marcus D’almeida of Brazil.
“It felt like a struggle in the wind,” he said. “It’s a really anti-climactic end of my career, because this will be the last match I ever shoot on the international circuit, unless something weird happens. But I don’t suspect so. I felt like I shot for what I was worth at this moment. Hats off to Marcus [D’almeida], because he managed the wind really, really well.”
Sjef, clearly frustrated, displayed the kind of calm analytical attitude that had taken him to the heights of archery before: “I have a lot of things to look back on that I’m really proud of. Obviously, I’ve become a world champion, albeit indoors, but you can still call yourself a world champion. I’ve won a World Cup.
“There’s definitely stuff that I’ve done that I think people wouldn’t have deemed possible of me when I was younger,” he added. “I’ve passed the expectations of some people. But I think most importantly, I’ve helped bring the team of the Netherlands to a higher level.” We will miss you, Sjef.
An San rattled by Chad archer
With the women’s final day imminent, on a darkening evening on Thursday, An, the number one seed, looked relieved to have got through her two matches. Her first, against Marlyse Hourtou of Chad, looked like it actually scared her just a little. Hourtou had qualified last, but had been receiving training as a resident at the World Archery Excellence Centre. The Chad archer opened with a 28 and took the first set, as alarm spread across An’s face. It eventually went the way it was expected to go, although Hourtou’s subsequent ends of 23, 26 and 22 were better than many that had gone in over the past few days.
An San’s pace, timing and accuracy were still there, but they came with a sense that she was not indestructible, and that an experienced performer might just take her down. The finals would test that to the limit.