By Ju-min Park
TOKYO (Reuters) -The United States suffered a surprise loss to Indonesia in the mixed-team archery competition on Saturday, dashing the 8th-ranked pair’s medal hopes.
Indonesian pair Diananda Choirunisa and Riau Salsabilla, ranked 36th in the world leading into the event, now go on to the next round to face Turkey in a quarter-final, ahead of the final later in the day.
“Honestly, I’m so shocked … like I completely expected us to win a medal today,” American world No.1 Brady Ellison said after the defeat.
His partner Mackenzie Brown said it was frustrating to compete without fans in attendance.
“It’s supposed to be big and give you goosebumps every time you walk out into a venue. And we’re out here by ourselves. You know, we’ve got our team mates, but there’s nobody out here,” she said.
“It is disappointing. To work for five years for an Olympic Games and then not to have any spectators at all is a little bit frustrating.”
The mixed team event is a new addition to the Olympic programme, featuring pairs of athletes, one woman and one man, from the same country. They compete head-to-head in set system matchplay similar to the team event.
No fans are allowed into the Tokyo venue due to coronavirus protocols, so the archers only had their team mates to cheer them on.
“Make some noise for Team USA,” a games announcer said through a loudspeaker, to muted response.
The powerful South Korean team also made it to the quarter-final, where they will face India.
On Friday, South Korea’s An San and Kim Je Deok topped the ranking rounds in the men and women’s individual events. An broke an Olympic record that had stood for 25 years.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Stephen Coates/Peter Rutherford)
