Archery: Uprichard bows out in thriller

8.00pm

ATHENS - New Zealand archer Ken Uprichard's Olympic campaign ended at the historic home of the modern Games here today following a titanic struggle with Chinese Taipei opponent Ming Huang Liu.

The scores in their sudden death 18-arrow matchplay clash at Panathinaiko Stadium -- home to the 1896 Olympics -- were tied with just two arrows remaining but the Cantabrian could only record a six with his penultimate shot and was eventually squeezed out 148-145.

Uprichard, who was ranked a distant 43 places below 11th seed Liu after last Thursday's ranking round, landed a 10 with his opening shot in the final end of three arrows to level the contest.

Crucially he then hesitated when stepping up to the line for the second to last time and the break in rhythm proved fatal.

A photographer's cellphone rang as he took aim but he did not offer that distraction as an excuse.

"I didn't hear it mate, what phone?" Uprichard asked.

"It was just one of those shots really. I did stop and come down because the wind came up a bit blustery."

A difficult to read breeze was a constant during the event inside the horseshoe-shaped marble venue, though Uprichard thought he handled the conditions well despite the odd blemish.

"That was one of my better matchplays. Sure there were a few bum shots but that's just the wind."

The 24-year-old, who was 56th at Sydney in his Olympics debut, felt confident throughout despite being hampered by a blistered finger on his right hand.

He sought treatment from the team medical staff after the injury flared during the ranking round and emphasised the digit was fine today.

"We worked through that last night and yesterday we shot (at the arena) and got it sorted out. It definitely wasn't an issue."

Uprichard started strongly, leading by six points after the first end but Liu took four of the remaining five ends albeit by narrow margins.

"Coming into the last end I knew I was right in with a chance. I was well in there today -- I thought I handled it really well.

"It goes to show anyone can shoot eights."

He will find out his final position when the 64-strong field is trimmed to 32 later today.

Uprichard, who shot at the stadium in a test event last year, said it was a highlight to compete in an arena steeped in history.

He even took photographs of the stadium before returning home, enlarged them and hung them around his Christchurch home to get a feel for what he was about to experience.

"It's perfect the history behind it... it's great for the spectators -- they get in nice and close to you."

He was, however, slightly disappointed at the turnout.

"We saw the crowd as we were coming in and we get more down at our club shoots."

Uprichard now intended to support other New Zealand competitors for the duration of the Games, kicking off with the women's hockey match with China tonight.

- NZPA