Three stages of the 2014 World Cup have been completed, and the rankings ahead of the fourth stage give some clues as to who might be making an appearance in the finals at Lausanne.
Last year’s champion Oh Jin Hyek leads the men’s recurve standings, ahead of Rick Van der Ven. Oh’s Korean Teammate Lee Seungyun and Florian Kahllund sit just behind them with 30 points each. It’s a tight struggle in the ranks below that though, with only seven points separating Marcus Dalmeida in fifth and Brady Ellison in 10th. Ku Bonchan and Kim Woojin are also in the top 10, but with only two athletes from each nation allowed to go they could miss out to the other, higher-placed Korean archers. Hideki Kikuchi and Pierre Plihon are also in the running, but a medal finish from any of the other archers could see them leapfrogged for a spot in the finals.
Oh Jin Hyek Photo: Dean Alberga
Korea also have four of their female recurve archers in the top 10: Jung Dasomi currently leads, followed by Joo Hyun Jung, with Chang Hye Jin and Lee Tuk Young in seventh and eighth respectively. Only two can go through however, and other contenders high up in the ranking places are Elena Richter and Lisa Unruh of Germany, and Chemg Ming and Xu Jing of China. Aida Roman and Natalia Erdynieva complete the top 10, but Ren Hayakawa is equal on points with Erdynieva, and several archers are within a decent finish of nabbing one of the final spots, though Jung, Joo, and Richter look set to make definite appearances.
Jung Dasomi
Photo: Dean Alberga
Sebastien Peineau has made certain of his spot in the finals – he leads the compound men category by eight points from Peter Elzinga. Reo Wilde and Bridger Deaton follow with 30 points apiece, meaning that last year’s silver-medallist and 2012 winner Braden Gellenthien needs a big result at Wroclaw to leapfrog his teammates for a spot in the finals. Choi Yong Hee, Rajat Chauhan, Roberto Hernandez, Pierre-Julien Deloche and two-time World Cup finals winner Sergio Pagni are also still well up in the running, alongside Daniel Munoz.
Sebastien Peineau
Photo: Dean Alberga
Erika Jones, last year’s champion Alejandra Usquiano and Toja Cerne all look likely to qualify for the final rounds of women’s compound competition. Sara Lopez and Albina Loginova are hot on their heels though, with Choi Bomin and Natalia Avdeeva only another point behind them. Iraq could get their first athlete into the World Cup Finals if Fatimah Almashhadani can follow up her Antalya silver with another good finish to leapfrog Linda Ochoa, while avoiding the closely-matched chasing group of Marcella Tonioli, Inge Van Caspel and Janine Meissner.
Erika Jones
Photo: Dean Alberga
Check out World Archery‘s full rankings at www.worldarchery.org/EVENTS/World-Cup/Rankings/2014