Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Taiwan's female archers got a boost ahead of the Summer Olympic Games, picking up medals in both the team and individual recurve competitions at a World Cup event in Turkey over the weekend.

In the women's team event, where each team shoots a total of 24 arrows worth a maximum 10 points each, Taiwan reached the finals before falling to top-seeded South Korea 220-218.

Taiwan actually led 56-54 after the first round of six arrows, but was done in by three 7s in the space of five arrows midway through the competition to fall behind for good.

Still the Taiwanese team of Tan Ya-ting, Lin Chia-en and Le Chieh-ying -- the same three who will represent Taiwan in both the individual and team recurve events at the London Olympics -- did well to make the finals after beating Switzerland and archery powerhouses India and China.

In the individual event, the three women and veteran Yuan Shu-chi all made the final 16, with Lin taking the bronze with a 6-4 win over Xu Jing of China after losing to eventual champion Deepika Kumari of India 6-2.

Scoring in the individual event is based on five rounds of three arrows each. The winner of a round gets two points, and each archer gets one point for a tie.

Unlike the women, the Taiwanese men disappointed in Turkey. None of the men reached the final 32 in the individual competition, and they bowed out to second-seeded France in the round of 16 in the team event.

The men have yet to qualify for the London Olympics in the team event but still have a chance if they perform well in the last Olympic qualifier in Ogden, Utah from June 18 to 24.

Archery is one of the few Olympic sports in which Taiwan has realistic medal hopes.

It won silver in the men's team event and bronze in the women's team event in Athens in 2004, but disappointed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, failing to make the semifinals of either the team or individual competitions.

(By Lung Bo-an and Scully Hsiao)
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