ARCHERY: Up and coming Australian archery star, Taylor Worth, has narrowly lost to Korean world number one Oh Jin-Hyek, in the World Archery Championships in Antalya (Belek), Turkey.

Worth, who made his Olympic debut as a 21-year-old at London 2012, was knocked out in the quarter-finals, losing seven points to three. The Australian finished seventh overall in the tournament.

Taylor’s flourishing archery career began in 2010 when he won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and the US Open. He was also crowned Australian Archer of the Year.

In 2012, he caused many upsets at the London Olympics, including thrashing then world number one Brady Ellison of the United States, seven points to one on the hallowed turf of Lords. He came so close yet so far, losing 9-8 in a shoot-off to eventual bronze medal winner, Dai Xiaoxiang - after the match was drawn at 137 all. He was one match away from making it into the Olympic quarter-finals.

Fellow 2012 Olympian Elisa Barnard was also competing in the world tournament, losing to eventual finalist Xu Jing from China, the world number 15. Barnard has already achieved a lot nationally, coming first in the 2011 Australian Open in Adelaide and also the 2011 New Zealand National Championships. She was the only female qualifier for Australia in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Both athletes are showing plenty of potential as the countdown to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio continues.

Other Australian archers competing in Olympic class events also showed promise. Ryan Tyack and Matthew Gray both made the second round before succumbing to better archers on the day. They finished the tournament ranked 39th and 34th respectively. Worth, Tyack and Gray combined to place seventh in the Team event.

Meanwhile, the other women, Deonne Bridger and Alice Ingley, helped Australia achieve 26th place in the women’s Team event.

Simon Pham
olympics.com.au