Archery: Christchurch archer hits the target in Olympic Games qualifier

Christchurch archer Ken Uprichard took another step towards packing his bag for a second Olympic Games experience by winning the Continental Olympic qualifying tournament.

Uprichard shot scores of 106, 107 and 102 at St Andrew's College in Christchurch at the weekend, the latter in the final against Fiji's Robert Elder, to win the gold medal and ensure New Zealand one of two Olympic berths for Athens.

Elder won the silver medal to claim a berth for Fiji, while Auckland's Peter Russell won the bronze and New Zealand's second Olympic spot.

Auckland's Peter Ebden was expected to feature in the top three, but failed to fire and was ousted in the second round by Russell 106-103.

Despite failing to reach the final three, Ebden still has a chance to qualify for Athens.

Both he and Uprichard must now complete Olympic qualification standards set by Archery New Zealand and be selected by the Olympic committee.

If only one New Zealand archer were selected for the Olympics, Siosifa Taumoepeau would gain selection for Tonga, having finished fourth at the qualifying tournament.

Australians dominated the women's event by claiming all three medals. Deonne Bridger won the gold ahead of Sarah McNeill and Jo Ann Galbraith.

Bridger beat McNeill 105-89 for first place.

Despite claiming the top three positions, Australia can send only two of their archers to Athens.

A country can claim only two Olympic places from the three available.

Meanwhile, Peter Russell won the men's recurve un-marked field title at the 61st Archery New Zealand championships, which started yesterday. In scorching conditions at Tai Tapu, Russell, who scored 310, beat Dunedin's Makoto Kusakabe. Australia's Russell Hoffman was third.

Neither Uprichard nor Ebden contested the un-marked event, choosing to concentrate on the matchplay competition this week.

New Caledonia's Catherine Gougeon-Clerte won the women's un-marked title with 255. Balclutha's Anne Mitchell was second on 227.

Logan Cooke, of Auckland, won the men's under-18 title.

- NZPA