Arc: Jittery start for Barnes as records tumble

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2004
Arc: Jittery start for Barnes as records tumble

By Sharon Labi

ATHENS, Aug 12 AAP - Teenage archery star David Barnes is hoping he got all his bad
shots out of his system as world records tumbled on the eve of Olympic competition.

Ranked No.4 in the world, Barnes had a shaky start to his Olympic campaign, finishing
in 39th position in the ranking rounds with a 72-arrow score of 641.

Korean-born Australian coach Ki Sik Lee has tipped Barnes as a strong contender for
gold but it's teammate Simon Fairweather who is seeking to defend his Olympic title.

Back from retirement, Fairweather, the world No.53 ranked 20th in the Olympic shoot
off with a total 658 points, while recently-crowned junior world champion Tim Cuddihy,
16, was best Aussie on the day and goes into the head-to-head elimination competition
ranked 12th.

Combined, the team which has won two titles in recent pre-Olympic meets ranked seventh
with 1952 points.

The ranking results came as the Koreans smashed three world records.

They won three of the four gold archery medals on offer in Sydney and are again in
devastating form in Athens.

Dong-hyun Im shot a record 687 putting him in first position going into Monday's elimination
matches.

Compatriot Park Sung-hyun, 21, set an individual world record of 682 points, breaking
the 72-arrow mark of 679, set in May by Italian Natalia Valeeva.

The women's team of Park, Lee Sung-jin and Yun Mi-jin also set a world record of 2,030
for the 216-arrow ranking round.

Australia's best female performer, Melissa Jennison was a late addition to the Australian
team after a last minute shoulder injury forced Jade Beatty to withdraw a month before
competition.

Jennison finished 19th at the Sydney Olympics and ranked 29th in the Athens shoot off
with a score of 628.

Perth postal worker Deonne Bridger ranked 39th, scoring a total 620 while Jo-Ann Galbraith,
also of Perth, ranked 57th out of a total field of 64, with a score of 596.

The team however ranked last, in 15th place but it is the first time Australia has
qualified three female archers, making them eligible for team entry.

The archery competition will be the first Olympic event held at Panathinaiko since
the 1896 Games.

AAP sal

KEYWORD: OLY ARC AUST

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