South Korea wins men's archery team competition

BEIJING // South Korea took the gold medal in the men's team archery competition, matching the feat of the women's team a day earlier. Im Dong-hyun, Lee Chang-hwan and Park Kyung-mo defeated the Italians Mauro Nespoli, Ilario Di Buo' and Marco Galiazzo by 227 points to 225, winning gold for South Korea for the third Olympics in succession. The match came down to the final arrows after earlier looking like a rout. After 12 of the 24 arrows, the South Koreans led the Italians by seven points and were well inside the world record. However, the South Korean attack then collapsed and the teams were all level with three arrows each remaining. Italy's final shot - a seven from the bow of 20-year-old Nespoli - proved the difference between the two teams. South Korea's score of 227 was an Olympic record, but fell short of its own world record of 231, set in Germany last year. The South Korean fans, massed in the stand closest to the archers, sang and chanted between every end, raising their red and blue scarves in unison. A small group of Italian fans responded, and the good-natured South Korean group took up the chant of "I-ta-lia" as well. In a spectacular rise, the Chinese archers Jiang Lin, Li Wenquan and Xue Hai Feng - seeded 12th and last after the ranking round - defeated Australia, Russia and finally Ukraine to take the bronze. It was China's first ever archery medal. "The Chinese team have never shot this well before," said the shocked Russian archer Baljinima Tsyremplilov. He blamed his own team's poor performance on a crosswind. *AP