Jess Stretton and Nathan Macqueen lost a close fought match 153-151 to Iran in the quarterfinals at Yumenoshima Archery Park on Sunday.
The temperature stayed high and conditions remained challenging as Jess Stretton and Nathan Macqueen took to the field for the Mixed Team Compound Open quarterfinal against Iran.
The pair were seeded 5th while Iran ranked 4th going into the competition.
In the 1st end GB lost by just two points 38-36. In the 2nd end GB started strong with a 10 from Stretton but Iran kept up the pressure and they finished 38 all. In the 3rd end Iran had a perfect score of 40 with GB just 1 point behind. In the final end Stretton and Macqueen both shot a 10 and a 9 but it wasn’t enough and although they won the end 38-37 they finished the match 2 points behind.
Jess Stretton said: “Nathan and I actually shot really well. We did all we could given the circumstances. It was going to go one way or the other and we just got unlucky.
“We were as best prepared as we could have been. Even just to get here is an amazing achievement. We were looking at the scores earlier and they were all lower than what we shot. I think If we’d been up against anyone else, we might have had a different result.”
Jess Stretton still has a chance at bringing home a medal when she returns to the field for the second round of the Women’s Individual Compound Open against teammate Phoebe Paterson Pine at 9:51 (Tokyo time) on Monday.
On shooting against her fellow teammate she said: “I’m both nervous and excited for tomorrow morning. It’s going to be more nerve-wracking shooting out there all by myself because I won’t have Nathan out there supporting on the line but I will still have Rikki (Bingham, her coach) so that calms me a little bit.
“I think I’m a bit nervous because it’s against Phoebe, my teammate, and that’s always difficult but if we both shoot our best and perform as well as I know we can then whatever happens happens.”
