Olympics Archery results, August 8: Men’s top-seed falls in Round of 32
By Brad Weiss
After setting a World Record to get the top seed in the Olympics Men’s individual competition, Kim Woo-jin suffers an upset loss in the Round of 32.
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The Archery competition kicked off with the ranking round on Friday, setting the stage for the team and individual events. After South Korea swept both the men and women’s team competition, the archers turned their attention to the individual event, with eyes on winning a medal.
The individual event began in earnest on Monday, with both the men and women commencing the Round of 64. The men and women had two archers begin their quest for the Round of 16, which will be held on the same day as the medal matches. The women’s event will end on August 11, while the men will finish up the next day.
In Monday’s action, the biggest upset of the day came on the men’s side, as top-seeded South Korean Kim Woo-jin lost (6-2) in the Round of 32 to Indonesia’s Riau Ega Agatha. Woo-jin had previously set a World Record during the ranking round, scoring 700 out of a possible 720 points.
Three top-10 seeded archers advanced on the men’s side, with Sjef van der Berg from the Netherlands (4), France’s Jean-Charles Valladont (8), and Taiwan’s Wei Chun-heng (9) all surviving to the Round of 16.
During the women’s competition, top-ranked U.S. archer Mackenzie Brown of the United States was upset in the Round of 32, losing to 51st-ranked San Yu Htwe of Myanmar 7-3. Meanwhile, in Round of 64 play, seventh-seeded Lucilla Boari of Italy fell to the 58th seed, Alice Ingley from Australia.
Italian Aida Roman, who took the silver in the 2012 London Olympics, did not have a good ranking round, placing 38th overall, falling to Moldova’s Alexandra Mirca in the Round of 64 and ending her bid for another Olympic medal.
2012 London Olympics gold medalist Kim Bo-Bae, is the third-ranked archer on the women’s side, won both her matches, keeping her dream of of a repeat alive.
Ten archers will now have to wait for the rest of the field to take their turns in the Round of 64 and 32, and can now relax until the Round of 16 begins.