Women’s compound archery medal contenders confirmed on exciting day at DC Park

Tahiti and New Caledonia will contest the Sol2023 Pacific Games gold medal in women’s compound archery on Friday after qualifying through top performances at DC Park on Thursday.

Tahiti’s Aurore Cottet scored 133 and will take on New Caledonia’s Caroline Balber, who secured 122 points.

Solomon Islands’ Georgiana Lepping will face Tonga’s Ana Fifita for bronze.

“I feel very excited about my performance today, which qualifies me for a medal match tomorrow. Therefore, I’m aiming to win the bronze medal,” Fifita told the Pacific Games News Service.

In the men’s compound category, New Caledonia will compete internally for victory in the gold medal match, with Laurent Clerte qualifying via a semi-final score of 139 points and Xavier Mangoen scoring 134 points. Meanwhile, Tahiti’s Julien Ravaudet will face New Caledonia’s Henry Shiu in the battle for the bronze.

In Friday’s medal matches in the men’s recurve, two archers from Team Australia and one from Team New Caledonia will compete for medals while, in the women’s recurve, two archers from Team Australia and one from Team New Zealand will vie for medals.

Alison Hagaman, the archery technical delegate for Sol2023, said Friday’s medal matches will be the toughest to watch.

“Someone has to win or lose during the finals tomorrow,” she noted.

In the Para archery men’s compound event, Solomon Islands’ Bobby Sunaone reflected on his performance against Team Tahiti.

“Today was really fun for me,” he told the Pacific Games News Service. My competitor is a very experienced athlete in archery for many years. It’s quite tough for me, but I’m really happy with my performance today.”

Sunaone has secured bronze in the event, but medals will not be added to the official medal tally as there are only three athletes and two countries competing.

By Arnold Peter, Tali Dever and Joyce Koiari, Pacific Games News Service