World Cup Archery hits Edinburgh

By Nick Hope BBC Sport in Edinburgh

Andrea Gales stunned British team-mate Nicky Hunt in round one of the archery World Cup Grand Final in Edinburgh, but would later miss out on a medal.

Gales beat the women's compound world number one in a one-arrow shoot-off after a dramatic match finished 5-5.

But Gales, a wildcard, lost to world champion Albina Loginova in the semi-finals and Erika Anschutz of the United States in the bronze medal match.

Five out of six Britons at the two-day event lost in the opening round.

But Gales was happy with the way she performed at the event, which is the culmination of four qualifying World Cup events.

"Being here was a fantastic experience, and ultimately I paid the price for a couple of mistakes, but if you make them at this level you pay a heavy price," said Gales, from Woking, who picked up a cheque for £700 for her fourth place.

I made one bad mistake against Andrea and paid heavily for it, but once again it's been a great experience Nicky Hunt

"It's been a fantastic weekend, and the support I had from the crowd was just amazing, and it makes up for the disappointment of not qualifying for the Commonwealth Games."

Hunt, from Ipswich, went into the tournament having secured the world number one ranking earlier this month and having qualified for the World Cup Grand Final in top place.

But for the second year running - she finished fourth at last year's Grand Final in Copenhagen - she left empty handed.

"It was very disappointing, but these things happen," she said. "I made one bad mistake against Andrea and paid heavily for it, but once again it's been a great experience.

"All in all I've had a great year, with three podium finishes at World Cup events leading up to the Grand Final, and I'll finish the season as world number one, so I can't complain."

Loginova went on to win her first World Cup Grand Final title, when she beat Canada's Ashley Wallace in the final, while in the men's recurve event American Brady Ellison was also a first-time winner, with victory over reigning Olympic champion Im Dong Hyun, from Korea, in the final.

Former Olympic bronze medallist Simon Terry, from Lincolnshire, and Alan Wills, from Cumbria, both crashed out in the opening round of the men's recurve event, though they did both lose to the eventual finalists.

Terry, a World Cup bronze medallist in Dubai in 2007, lost a close match to Im, while Wills went out to Ellison.

"I've not had a great year, with one thing and another, but I'm getting back to my best day by day, and this is another step forward," said Terry.

Wills, like Terry and Hunt, will be representing England at next month's Commonwealth Games.

Sunday's results:

Men's recurve: 1st round: Jayanta Talukdar (IND) bt Michele Frangilli (ITA) 6-2, Marco Galiazzo (ITA) beat Kim Woojin (KOR) 6-4, Im Dong Hyun (KOR) bt Simon Terry (GB) 7-3, Brady Ellison (USA) bt Alan Wills (GB) 6-2. Semi-finals: Ellison bt Talukdar 5-5, won a one-arrow shoot-off, Im bt Galiazzo 6-2. Bronze al match: Talukdar bt Galiazzo 6-2. Gold medal match: Ellison bt Im 6-2.

Women's compound: 1st round: Albina Loginova (RUS) bt Sandrine Vandionant (FRA) 6-0, Ashley Wallace (CAN) bt Jamie Van Natta (USA) 6-0, Erika Anschutz (USA) bt Linda Ochoa (MEX) 6-0, Andrea Gales (GB) bt Nicky Hunt (GB) 5-5, won one-arrow shoot-off. Semi-finals: Loginova bt Gales 6-0, Wallace bt Anschutz 7-1. Bronze medal match: Anschutz bt Gales 7-1. Gold medal match: Loginova bt Wallace 5-5, won one-arrow shoot-off.

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