Australian Taylor Worth out in archery shoot off at London Olympics
Australian archer Taylor Worth says he knows he can match it with the best. The 21-year-old rookie Olympic archer, Worth said his best London moment, being a cricketing fan, was to walk on the Lords cricket ground and meet former Australian cricket captain, Steve Waugh.
Earlier Worth, who as a kid watched on television his favourite players, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath play at Lords, had won his own Ashes contest, beating Englishman Alan Wills.
He then downed gold medal favourite, the world champion, Brady Ellison of the USA in a huge upset 7-1 to make the final 16.
It wasn't beating world No.1 Brady Ellison, or the thrill of going within one arrow of a surprise quarter-final win, no, it was beating the Pom at Lords.
"Australia versus England at Lord's and taking it in a shoot-off, what's better than that?" said Worth, who beat Great Britain's Alan Wills on Wednesday.
"I'm walking off the field with my head held high."
Worth's Olympic Games pursuit ended in another sudden-death shoot-off on Friday, against the seventh-ranked, China's Dai Xiaoxiang.
Worth had shot brilliantly in the round of 16 clash, defying his world No 44 ranking in tricky winds at the famous Lords venue.
Leading from the outset and having recovered from a wayward six in the second set, Worth only needed a nine or a ten with his third and last arrow to close out a victory, in the final set to beat Dai and progress to the quarter-finals. But with a couple of late lapses, he could only score eight, sending the match into a nail-biting single-arrow sudden death shot-off.
In the closest matches, officials often need to bring the tape measure out, but that wasn't needed for Worth, who disappointingly could only shoot an eight, well wide of Dai's average nine.
"I just didn't bring it enough today, but that's how it goes," Worth said.
"I wanted to finish as high as I could, but it's my first Olympics."
Worth, who dedicates himself to archery, jet setting across the globe for international events much of the year, said the roar of the crowd will stay with him.
With no British archer left in the contest, the spectators were undeniably favouring him. Even the ground commentators got in on the "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" action.
Worth, dubbed "Mr Cool" by local commentators, said the experience on and off the Lord's pitch, was "fantastic".
"Yeah, it was a bit different to my last couple of matches," Worth said with a smile. "It's great to have the extra support. I'm disappointed I let them down."
Worth said he's aiming for Rio 2016 having proven he can beat the best.
Later, in the Bronze medal match, Dai Xiaoxiang, 21 of People's Republic of China defeated Rick van der Ven, aged 21 of The Netherlands to win the Bronze medal.
In the Gold medal match, Oh Jin Hyek, 30 of South Korea won the Gold medal and Takaharu Furukawa, 27 of Japan has won Silver.