Paris: 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 3 Wrap-up
Paris: 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 3 Wrap-up. The third and final stage of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup was held in Paris from June 21st to the 26th. The spectacular finals arena for this stage was the famous Chateau de Vincennes, which was located in the center of the city.
Olympic host city
The focus was on being centered in the capital of France, which will serve as the site of the Olympic Games in 2024.
Archers who had not yet directly qualified for the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final or who still needed to make up ground in the standings were invited to compete in Paris. Athletes who were aware that if they did not make it this time, they would only have one more chance to compete on the circuit in this calendar year.
The initial entry list for Paris 2022 featured 360 athletes (212 men, 148 women) from 51 countries. Among those athletes were Brady Ellison (recurve men), Deepika Kumari (recurve women), and Abhishek Verma (compound men), all of whom won the stage that was held in the city the previous year.
Sara Lopez, the fourth champion, competed in the compound women’s division but was not in Paris since she was concentrating on Colombia and their planned participation in the Bolivarian Games.
In addition, the recurve men’s world number one Miguel Alvarino Garcia, the recurve women’s world number one An San, and the compound men’s world number one Mike Schloesser were all present in Paris. The highest-ranked compound woman was Jyothi Surekha Vennam (world rank: 3).
After making her way back to the Indian team, Deepika Kumari competed for the first time on the 2022 circuit. She revealed to us that “…each and every tournament and circumstance is unique unto itself. However, I cannot express how pleased I am to play for my nation once more “.
As part of a competition tour, Rick van der Ven was participating in the shooting competition with the intention of winning an individual medal, and Roberto Hernandez and Sofia Paiz, both of El Salvador, were competing in the shooting competition for the first time.
Qualification
The Dutch world number one Mike Schloesser (717) and Great Britain’s Ella Gibson (711) topped qualifying in the compound events. This is the same duo that won the season-opening in Antalya in April.
Gibson’s score of 712 out of a possible 720 was one point higher than her current European record for the 72-arrow 50-meter round, which she established at the Arizona Cup only two months ago. Gibson’s record was set at an event only two months ago.
“I’m not as delighted as I probably should be,” she added, while Mister Perfect (Schloesser) shot a perfect 360 points for his first 36 arrows to record his greatest finish on the Hyundai Archery World Cup since 2017, as well as his sixth, consecutive Hyundai Archery World Cup top seed.
Vennam was ranked second on her return, and the Korean men’s team shattered the world record with their teammates taking all five of the top recurve ranks.
Teams
The women’s bronze medal in the compound event was France’s first opportunity to win a medal on home soil, and the men’s bronze medal in the event went to the United States of America. The men’s home nation compound team went on to win the gold medal in the team competition, relegating Turkey to the runner-up spot.
However, Turkey’s women’s team would win the gold medal after defeating Great Britain in the championship match. India prevailed over France in the final of the compound mixed team competition, relegating Great Britain to third place.
Both the men’s and women’s teams from Chinese Taipei and Korea won their respective recurve team finals against the United States of America and India.
The men’s and women’s recurve teams from Turkey and Germany respectively won bronze earlier in the week.
The German team of Michelle Kroppen, Charline Schwarz, and Katharina Bauer finished in third place at the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup. Brady Ellison, who was a member of the United States mixed team that won the gold medal, also finished in third place.
Individual
Ella Gibson was predicted to win the women’s individual competition on the third episode of The Archery Show by new Archery GB Performance Coach Nicky Hunt (who was also our world stream live analyst). Gibson had previously made it to the final four of the compound competition.
Nicky was correct, but Nicolas Girard’s victory in the compound men’s individual event proved her, the other competitors, and maybe even Nicolas himself wrong.
The British archer Penny Healey finished in fourth place in the recurve competition, despite having eliminated some of the more notable competitors on her way to the final four. After prevailing in the championship match against the competition from Chinese Taipei, Utano Agu was awarded the gold medal.
Marcus D’Almeida of Brazil won the gold medal in the most difficult way possible by claiming victories over Oh Jin Hyek and Olympic champion Kim Je Deok on his route to securing a spot for himself in Tlaxcala in October.
It was a gold medal to add to some significant silver medals he had already won in his career, including a second-place finish at the world championships the previous year.
“I feel terrific,” he remarked. “At the second stage, which took place in Korea, it was just a shoot-off that saved me from making it to the finals. During the final month of our work, we made several adjustments to our goal. This is my opportunity to shine. I am really pleased with where my life has taken me.”
What it means
Due to their performances, D’Almeida, Agu, and Girard have earned automatic spots in the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, which will be held in Mexico. They will compete alongside Mike Schloesser, Bryony Pitman, Miguel Alvarino Garcia, Ella Gibson, Choi Misun, Kim Woojin, and Kim Yunhee, who have already qualified for the competition.
It also meant that Woojin reclaimed his position as the world’s number one male archer in the recurve event, following a short stint at the top spot a month before. He replaced Alvarino Garcia.
Gibson, in the compound women rankings, is now just 3.5 points off of Lopez (222.5 points compared to 226 points), and the Colombian legend’s world record stay at the top is seriously under threat. San, Schloesser, and Lopez all maintained their top rankings, but Gibson is now just 3.5 points off of Lopez in the rankings.
What’s next?
Stage four of the competition will take place in the city of Medellin, which is located in Colombia, the month after next.