Double gold for Nicky Hunt and Duncan Busby in Commonwealth Games archery

New Delhi, October 9, 2010: The English archers Nicky Hunt and Duncan Busby won their second gold medals of the week in the individual compound finals on in Commonwealth Games archery event at Yamuna Sports Complex here on Saturday. Both had won picked up gold medals from team events.

Busby dominated teammate Chris White in the final, while Seppie Cilliers (RSA) was solid all way through his bronze medal match against Shaun Teasdale (NZL).

Hunt took the Women's Individual Compound event by defeating Doris Jones (CAN) in the final at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Saturday 6-4.

Both started quickly, scoring a perfect 30 to tie the first set, before Jones broke away to win the second set 29-27 and take a 3-1 lead. But Hunt roared back, scoring six consecutive 10s to take the next two sets and head into the final set with a 5-3 lead. She kept her composure to score 29 to equal Jones score and win England's third gold in archery at the Games.

In the bronze medal match, Cassie McCall (AUS) triumphed over teammate Fiona Hyde 7-3 after she opened up a 4-0 lead after the first two sets. Hyde recovered, winning the fourth set 27-26 to take it to a fifth, before McCall surged ahead, winning the decider 29-27 to take Bronze.

Here is a recap of the matches:

The compound individual finals consist of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The remaining eight archers of the Compound Men and Women events will compete in the final matches. In individual finals matches, archers shoot alternately up to five sets of three arrows in 20 seconds per arrow. Each set worth two points for a win, one point for a tie. The first archer who reaches 6 sets points win the match. The higher placed archer in the ranking round will decide who shoots first in the first end of each match, and then the archer with the lowest set points score will shoot first in each following end. If the scores tie, the archer who shot first in the first end will shoot first. If the tie persists after the fifth set in finals rounds, a single arrow shoot off will be shot and the athlete with the arrow closest to the centre will win.

Compound Men

Semifinal: Seppie Cilliers (RSA) vs Chris White (ENG): Cilliers did not give any room to the big white in the first two sets. Cilliers scored five 10s and one 9, while White had five 9s and one 10. Cilliers led 4-0. He opened the door a little bit in the third set with 10-9-9, and White got into it with 10-9-10, closing the gap at 2-4. The English caught a liner 10 that proved to be the difference in the fourth set: for 10-10-9 for White, 9-9-10 for Cilliers. Match was tied at 4-4! Cilliers let it go in the fifth 9-9-9, while White scored 9-10-10 to complete a comeback victory 6-4!

Semifinal: Shaun Teasdale (NZL) vs Duncan Busby (ENG): Busby took on the No. 6 in the World Teasdale in this semifinal. The English kept shooting very well with 10-9-10, while the New Zealander had 9-10-9. Busby 2-0. He continued strong in the second set with 10-9-10, while Teasdale made a little mistake (at this level) with 10-10-8. Busby 4-0. It was nevertheless his turn to commit a little mistake when he shot an 8. In the meantime, Teasdale had a perfect 30 to close the gap at 2-4. He could not quite keep it this way in the fourth with 10-9-9. Busby had 10-10-9 to secure another English man’s place, his, in the final. Busby 6-2.

Final: Chris White (ENG) vs Duncan Busby (ENG)
An all-English affair in the compound men’s individual gold final! Busby is the No. 2 seed, while White has had a great run with his matches from the No. 12 qualification rank. Both have won the team final two days ago. White started with 10-9-9, while Busby scored 9-10-10 to take a 2-0 lead. Then both had 29 points. Score was 3-1. Then White scored 9-9-10 and Busby 10-10 and... 8! Tied set, 4-2. White finished with 9-10-9, while BUSBY shot 9-10 and... 10 to clinch the match! BUSBY won 6-2 and his second gold medal of the week!

Compound Women

Semifinal: Doris Jones (CAN) vs Cassie Mc Call (AUS):
The athletes tied the first set 27-27. However Jones’ capability to score more 10s showed in the second set, which we won with 10-8-10 (28-25). Mc Call, who has made great progress in the last two years, won the third set 29-27. Match was tied at 3-3. Then Jones scored 10-9-10, while Mc Call scored 9-8-8. The Canadian was in the lead again, 5-3. The Australian could not be consistent enough and Jones cruised to victory in the fifth set, scoring 10-10-9 and winning the match 7-3.

Semifinal: Fiona Hyde (AUS) vs Nicky Hunt (GBR)
Hunt did not leave the yellow in her quarterfinal and started the semifinal on the same fashion with 10-10-10!!! She led 2-0. Hyde responded with 10-9-9 in the second set, but Hunt kept being better with 10-10-9 and took a 4-0 lead. Hyde kept fighting and got the upper hand in the third set (10-10-9 vs 9-9-9) cut the deficit at 2-4. The No. 19 in the world Hyde gave it all in the fourth set with 9-9-9, but the No. 1 in the world Hunt was unstoppable with another 10-10-10. Victory 6-2!

Gold Final: Doris Jones (CAN) vs Nicky Hunt (GBR):
Hunt is the No. 1 in the world. Jones is a great upcoming archer who won the junior world championships at Merida 2006. Hunt has three individual podiums at World Cup level this year. Jones ranked 2nd at the Ogden World Cup. Hunt earned the team gold on Thursday. Jones got silver. Hunt is the No. 2 seed of the individual competition. Jones won the qualifications last Monday and therefore is the No. 1 seed.

Both archers started the match with a perfect 30, despite some wind today coming from left to right, going North-East with around a 45 degrees angle! Jones continued with another 10. Hunt as well! Jones hit another 10! Hunt was the first one to crack with an 8. Both archers concluded with a 9. Jones led 3 set points to 1. Hunt managed to tie the match at 3-3.

In the fourth, the Canadian shot 10-9-9, while the English kept it perfect with 10-10-10 and took the lead 5-3.

Jones scored 9-10-10 in the fifth set, while Hunt started with 10-9 letting her with a 10 to shoot to tie the set and win the match. Anything less meant that Jones would have taken the set and the archers would gave gone to a shoot-off of one arrow closest to centre, where anything can happen. Hunt raised the bow, aimed calmly and hit the bull’s eye!!!! Victory 6-4 and second gold medal of the week for her.

Press release from Indian Archery Association