Brazil won, this Sunday (24), the bronze medal for mixed teams in the Medellin stage, Colombia, of the Archery World Cup. The partnership between Marcos Vinícius D’Almeida and Ana Luiza Caetano won, in the dispute for third place, the South Koreans An San and Kim Je Deok, Olympic champions at the Games in Tokyo (Japan), last year.
The Brazilians beat Spain and Holland in the previous stages, falling to Taiwan (who took the title) in the semifinals. The South Korean team, the greatest force in world archery, was surprised by the United States, who were runners-up in Medellin, in the other confrontation, getting in the way of Brazil in the fight for the bronze medal.
Marcos and Ana Luiza were not intimidated by the South Korean favoritism. In the first of the four partials, they scored 36 points, with an arrow at the 10-point mark, two at the 9 and one at the 8, against three 8s and one 10 from the rivals, who totaled 34 points, opening two to zero on the scoreboard.
At the set Next, the Asians reacted and scored 38 points, with two 9s and two 10s, but the Brazilians were even better, with three 10s, with two perfect arrows, in the center of the target, and a 9. Victory by 39 to 38 for the duo of Brazil, which was four to zero.
An San and Je Deok got the better of the third half and returned to the game with a perfect performance: 40 points and four arrows in the 10 points, against 37 points from the Brazil team (two 10, one 9 and one 8). Marcos and Ana Luiza, however, did not feel the pressure and were again superior in the fourth and decisive setwinning 38-37 and securing bronze with a six-two in the final score.
It is Marcos’ second consecutive medal in World Cups. In June, he won individual gold at the Paris (France) stage, defeating seven archers, including Je Deok himself, in the decision.
