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UIPM 2017 World Cup I: Confident Korea win first Mixed Relay of season

Modern Pentathlon
  • Yang and Jung overcome Japanese duo to secure World Cup success
  • Kazakhstan complete all-Asian podium with bronze
  • Season-opener in 2024 Olympic candidate city of Los Angeles draws to close

The experienced duo of Yang Soo Jin and Jung Jinhwa led Korea to a decisive gold medal in the Mixed Relay as UIPM 2017 World Cup I drew to a close.

For the second successive day it was Japan who set off first in the decisive Laser-Run discipline, a demonstration of their determination to become a more competitive force in Modern Pentathlon ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, Ayumu Saito and Taishu Sato were unable to match the running pace and shooting composure of Korea (Yang/Jung), who made sure the Japanese duo would have to shift their focus to protecting silver.

Behind them, with the final lap approaching it looked like Great Britain (Jessica Varley & Myles Pillage) might pinch an unexpected bronze out of the grasp of Kazakhstan (Elena Potapenko and Vladislav Sukharev), but a nine-second shoot by Sukharev soon snuffed out that challenge and made sure it would be an all-Asian top three.

Earlier, Kazakhstan (Potapenko/Sukharev) narrowly defeated Great Britain (Varley/Pillage) in Swimming with a time of 1:59.38 at the Claremont Club.

There was no such parity in the Fencing arena, however, as Japan (Saito/Sato) dominated proceedings. They took a firm grip on the overall lead as they achieved an impressive tally of 30 victories and four defeats, and it was only in the Bonus Round where they lost the final series to Poland (Anna Maliszewska & Szymon Staskiewicz) that their dominance was interrupted.  

Poland's momentum did not last long, however, as Staskiewicz endured a messy Riding display that put the two individual Rio 2016 Olympic representatives out of contention.

It was Korea (Yang/Jung) who enjoyed the smoothest experience on horseback, incurring only six penalty points to put serious pressure on Japan (Saito/Sato), whose lead was suddenly looking very slender indeed, and proved to be sufficient only for silver. For full results visit the  UIPM website.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: "The first Mixed Relay of the season was a success, specially for Asia as Korea won the gold medal, followed by Japan and Kazakhstan. It was such an achievement for the Asian nations.

"We have seen here once more a great demonstration of team spirit and this makes us very confident to include the Mixed Relay in Tokyo 2020."

The Chairman of the USA Pentathlon board Mr Tom Shepard said: "I want to personally thank our international governing body, the UIPM, for the support and leadership, as well as USA Pentathlon Board, the staff of Team USA Pentathlon and the United States Olympic Committee for their continued support.

A special note of recognition and gratitude goes to the Fairplex, our local organising committee, as well as the countless volunteers and sponsors who truly made this event world class."

Next stop on the 2017 UIPM World Cup circuit is Cairo (EGY, Mar 24-26), followed by Kecskemet (HUN, May 5-7) and Drzonkow (POL, May 26-28). The series culminates with the World Cup Final in Vilnius (LTU, Jun 23-25) which will be televised live on Eurospor

 

See final results below: 

Rank

Name

Points


       1
KOREA
Soon jin Yang
Jinhwa Jung

1383

       2
JAPAN
Ayumu Saito
Taishu Sato

1371

       3
KAZAKHSTAN
Elena Potapenko
Vladislav Sukharev

1357

       4
GREAT BRITAIN
Jessica Varley
Myles Pillage

1343
 

       5
POLAND
Anna Maliszewska
Szymon Staskiewicz

1332

       6
UNITED STATES
Samantha Achterberg
Nathan Schrimsher

1317

       7
HUNGARY
Anita Strobl
Istvan Malits

1316

       8
TURKEY
Ilke Ozyuskel
Bugra Unal

1090

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