Brady Ellison stole a march on the men’s recurve category in these finals. Ranked 11th after the Nîmes stage, the USA archer won the final stage, held over the first two days of the Vegas shoot, to set up an overall first-place qualifying position, which he later backed up with the gold medal. Braden Gellenthien won the men’s compound category. Despite Reo Wilde’s top-qualifying position he had gained after winning both the Singapore and Nîmes stages, Gellenthien had the edge this time around. Andrea Gales qualified 14th for the finals, and nearly didn’t make it all the way as she had to hold her nerve through two single-arrow shoot-offs to get to the gold medal match. She did it though, and took her first international title in women’s compound, while Jeon Sung Eun of Korea went from a first-place qualifying position to a gold-medal finish in women’s recurve. With only the top 16 archers over the three stages invited to compete in each category, it’s a tough field from the start.
Reo Wilde, top of the men’s compound qualifiers, started the knockout stages seemingly easily enough, getting past Mike Schloesser of the Netherlands and Sergio Pagni of Italy 6-2. Second-seed Logan Wilde couldn’t get past 13th-seed Brandon Reyes, as Reyes won the shoot- off, and another high qualifier that went out in the early rounds was Morten Boe of Norway, who lost out to Denmark’s Martin Damsbo. Braden Gellenthien beat France’s Pierre-Julien Deloche, then progressed to put a stop to Reo Wilde’s run in the semi-finals, winning the match 6-4. He met Peter Elzinga, who had come from qualifying 14th and beaten Jesse Broadwater, Patrick Roux and Martin Damsbo to progress all the way to the gold medal match. Tied at five-all, the winner would be decided by a single arrow. Gellenthien shot first and took out the x, meaning Elzinga’s arrow, despite it clipping the ten ring, wasn’t enough. The Indoor World Cup Champion title went to Gellenthien, with Peter Elzinga picking up the silver, and Reo Wilde beating Martin Damsbo to the final podium spot.
Singapore compound women’s winner Danielle Wentzel of South Africa went into the knockouts from a a first-place qualifying position, and cruised through her first match against Christine Harrelson of the USA 7-1. Andres Gales knocked out Nîmes winner Naomi Jones 6-4 in the first round, then went on to face last year’s champion Joanna Chesse. Tied at five-all, the shoot-off decider went to Gales after her nine was closer to the centre. Danielle Wentzel got past Camilla Soemod to meet Sandrine Vandionant in the semi-final round, but it was Vandionant that triumphed 6-4 to make it to the final. Another five-all tie for Andrea Gales against Inge Van Caspel in the other semi-final meant it would be a second shoot-off. Both archers shot a ten, but again it was Gales’s arrow that was closest to the centre. It was more clear- cut in the gold medal final however, as Andrea Gales took the victory 7-3 from Sandrine Vandionant and claimed her first international title. A closely-fought battle for bronze ensued between Danielle Wentzel and Inge Van Caspel, which went to a one-arrow decider after a tie at 5-5. Danielle Wentzel managed to edge it with a ten that was just closer to the centre than Van Caspel’s.
Jake Kaminski, Jean-Charles Valladont and Sebastian Rohrberg were all tied for the top qualifying spot going into the Vegas shoot, but Brady Ellison’s performance in this third stage meant he was the top seed for the finals. After beating Frace’s Thomas Aubert, and Nîmes bronze medallist Elias Cuesta, Ellison comfortabley beat Rick Van der Ven 7-1 in the semis to progress to the final. After being overtaken in the qualifying rankings, Jean-Charles Valladont nevertheless made his own way to the gold medal match, overcoming Nîmes champion Sebastian Rohrberg and Italy’s Olympian Michele Frangilli on the way. It was a close final between Ellison and Valladont, but the American just had the edge, winning the final set to close the match 6-4, and claim his second Indoor World Cup victory in successive years. Rick Van der Ven recovered from his semi-final defeat to take the bronze medal off Italy’s Michele Frangilli.
Leading from the front, Jeon Sung Eun from Korea cruised past Louise Laursen, a medallist at Face2Face earlier in the season, before coming up against Naomi Folkard, who earned her place in the final rounds via a fifth-spot finish in the first part of the Vegas tournament. Jeon had the edge in the semi-finals, beating Folkard 6-2 to progress to the gold medal match.
Jeon’s compatriot Kim Min Jong fended off the challenges from Italy’s Pia Lionetti and France’s Berengere Schuh to make the gold medal final an all-Korean affair. It was Jeon Sung Eun that was stronger in the final though, as she defeated Kim 7-3 for the gold medal. Folkard and Berengere Schuh took each other on for the last World Cup medal spot, with the match finishing 6-2 in Schuh’s favour.
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RESULTS |
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Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Men’s Compound |
Braden Gellenthien (USA) |
Peter Elzinga (Netherlands) |
Reo Wilde (USA) |
|
Women’s Compound |
Andrea Gales (GBR) |
Sandrine Vandionant- Frangilli (France) |
Danielle Wentzel (South Africa) |
|
Men’s Recurve |
Brady Ellison (USA) |
Jean-Charles Valladont (France) |
Rick Van der Ven (Netherlands) |
|
Women’s Recurve |
Jeon Sung Eun (Korea) |
Kim Min Jong (Korea) |
Berengere Schuh (France) |