Paz sixth in world archery leg

Amaya Paz finished sixth overall in the women’s compound division of the just concluded Stage-One-Meteksan Archery World Cup 2007 at the Ulsan Munsu International Center in Ulsan, Korea.

Paz held on until the quarterfinals where she lost to Shabani Akram of Iran, 109-101.

In the qualifying round, Paz placed seventh with a score of 1334, way below her personal best of 1388. Teammate Jennifer Chan placed 11th overall and 10th in the qualifying.

In the men’s compound division, Enrique Cojuangco Jr. became the best Filipino finisher at 17th overall, followed by Adam Jimenez at 29th. EarlYap ran into trouble early and wound up 40th.

The weather was cold with unpredictable gusts of winds bringing down the temperature to a low of three degrees and a high of 13.

"A tricky, circling wind kept blowing the whole day on the field. Moreover, the temperature was colder than expected for this time of the year in this area. Many archers complained of their shooting being disturbed by these weather factors," said Ludivine Maitre Wicki of FITA Communications.

This World Cup is the first of four stages for 2007. The other venues will be in Italy, Turkey and England. But the mother of all tournaments for this year is the 44th World Archery Championships in Leipzig, Germany in July.

Paz is currently ranked No. 12 in the world, Yap No. 17, Chan No. 26, and Cojuangco No. 42. Based on these rankings they are in a realistic striking position to get golds in the coming 44th World Championships.

Both men and women’s teams were outfitted by Accel.