2012 World Cup Season Preview
George Tekmitchov
12/07/2011
World Archery Olympic commentator, world
field archer, and Hoyt engineer George Tekmitchov previews the 2012
World Cup season
Change is in the air for the 2012 World Cup season, with
some familiar host sites trying out new competition venues and a
major adjustment to the schedule for 2012 going forward.
"With the number of major events in any given year, we
felt that the schedule was getting to be a little relentless for
both competitors and World Cup staff". This is one
explanation from World Archery Secretary General Tom Dielen for the
decision to reduce the number of World Cup stages from four to
three, followed, as usual, by a Grand Final in a spectacular
setting.
Of course there will be a great deal of effort expended on
the London Olympic Games and Paralympics, and this major event
combined with an already-tight schedule is another major motivator
for the schedule adjustment. The schedule will return to 4
circuit events in 2013.
Out of the picture is Porec, Croatia. The popular,
but difficult to reach destination was the opening World Cup event
for several seasons running. However, key staff changes in
the local organization, combined with the need to reduce the
schedule, led to Porec being dropped for 2012.
Springtime in
Shanghai
For several years now, the last circuit event for the
World Cup has been in Shanghai, China, generally in August- the
beginning of typhoon season. As a result, several of the
World Cup events held there have experienced severe weather, twice
forcing changes to the schedule and finals venues. That may
change in 2012, as the Shanghai event will move to first on the
calendar, scheduled for the second week of April. World
Archery Secretary-General Tom Dielen mentions, "in spite of the
weather, Shanghai has produced several world and continental
records. The venue next to the river in 2011 was challenging
for wind but gave a great view on the city panorama. In 2012 we are
expected to be even more in the City center with more protected
conditions. Shanghai could be the biggest event of the year since
it is at the start of the Season."
Archers love
Antalya
The second World Cup event for the season- two weeks after
the conclusion of Shanghai- is once again set in what is
arguably the most popular destination on the circuit- the
sun-drenched resort city of Antalya Turkey. In the past few
years Antalya's event has been a showcase for archery as
influential and powerful International Olympic Committee members
have made it a point to visit the finals two years
running.
Last Olympic Chance in
Ogden
2012 sees competitors return to Ogden, Utah, which will
hold the final World Cup circuit event of the season before the
Grand Final. A new venue, the Golden Spike Event
Center, will host the competition, which takes on a critical role
this year- as the last qualifying event for the Olympic Games,
Ogden is sure to be number one on the calendar for shooters from
countries like Japan and host USA that did not get their full
Olympic quota at the 2011 World Championships.
2012 World Cup Grand Final to
Tokyo
The World Cup Grand Final always strives for spectacular
settings, and 2012 is no exception. Set just a few hundred
meters from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the 2012 Grand Final of
the Archery World Cup in Japan will pit the world's 32 absolute
best archers against each other, and when the battle ends, there
will be four winners. One male recurve, one female recurve,
one male compound, and one female compound champion.
Best of the
best
Japan has a chance to enter as many as two shooters in
each category, since the host country is automatically allocated
one slot in each category. The remaining positions may be
filled through the performance of Japan's teams in the 2012 World
Cup events leading up to London and the Tokyo Grand
Final.
In addition, there will be a Mixed Team round, in which
the host country can, if it chooses, enter another male and female
shooter in each category, potentially giving up to twelve shooters
the overall chance to represent Japan in the event- two in each
recurve category, two in compound (male and female, eight total)
and, if Japan chooses, two additional men and women in each of the
mixed recurve and compound competitions.
Yokoso Nihon (Welcome to
Japan!)
The World Archery Federation (WA) is excited
to bring the prestigious finals to Japan in 2012. WA
Secretary General Mr. Tom DIELEN notes that Tokyo beat Paris for
the right to hold the 2012 event.
"The competition came down to Paris, Lausanne
(Switzerland, home town of the IOC) and Tokyo. We chose Tokyo
because of the unique opportunity to put on a major event here for
the first time, and while the world's attention was piqued by the
Olympic Games. In addition we are excited by the vibrant and
enthusiastic atmosphere of Tokyo, and also really wanted to take
the earliest opportunity to show that world archers stand with
Japan, after the tremendous challenges that came to the country in
2011."
"Except for the World Games field archery competition in
Akita (in 2000, under sanction of IWGA); Japan has not hosted a
World Archery sanctioned, world level archery event, in modern
history. We believe that this event will be very important in
promoting archery in the Asia region. In addition, Japan is
now always among the top contenders at world events. So this
is a great chance for the Japan team to show the progress it has
made to its home crowd for the first time. World Archery also
sees this as an important opportunity to establish a closer working
relationship with Japanese archery - shooters, officials and the
infrastructure are all very important to us."
Heart of
Tokyo
The competition venue, in Hibiya Park, is in the very
heart of Tokyo- and only a few hundred meters from the sacred
grounds of the Imperial Palace of Japan. "With the
concentration of potential spectators in and around the competition
venue, and the tremendous convenience of attending the event (near
many major train stations) we expect tremendous demand for tickets
for the Tokyo Finals. I think this will be a beautiful and
exciting venue and a great showcase for our sport" said WA's Events
Director, Mr. Juan-Carlos HOLGADO, team Gold Medalist of the 1992
Olympic Games. "We are also working with the national
broadcaster, NHK, to bring the event to many more homes throughout
Japan and the world" said Holgado, who has been running the World
Cup events since their inception in 2006.
The All-Japan Archery federation is handling distribution
of tickets and spectator space allocation, and will also be
instrumental in selecting the teams representing Japan.
According to Tom Dielen, the World Cup finals generates
nearly one hundred million yen in positive economic flow for the
Tokyo region, filling more than 500 hotel room nights and bringing
not only the top 32 shooters to Japan, but international support
staff, family members and many others- making the event a touristic
boost for the host as well. Major sponsors include Turkish
Airlines, KIA Motors, VakifBank, SporToto, TFORS, Longines, Hoyt,
and Easton.
Full details of the event are available from
www.archery.org