Athlete of the Week: Danelle WENTZEL (RSA)

 Danelle CHANTELLE won her first major tournament last weekend. She competed in the Indoor World Cup stage 1 in Singapore. After placing first in qualification, she won all her matches, including a semifinal against the defending World Cup Final champion Joanna CHESSE (FRA) which went to a shoot-off (10 to 9). The 16-year-old schoolgirl went on to win the gold medal final easily (6-0) against compatriot Gerda ROUX.   It was a great accomplishment for the young South African, who started archery in 2009 and made the national team two years later. She is coached by Seppie CILLIERS, a world record holder who was ranked among the top 10 compound archers in the world last year.   Danelle WENTZEL already has some impressive performances to her name. In March 2011, she became the first woman on the African continent to reach the 1400-point barrier at a competition in South Africa, and one of the few who have achieved this score in the world – only two years after taking up the sport! Her personal best of 1403 points out of a possible 1440 is the current South African record. At 60m she shot a score of 343, at 50m a score of 356, at 40m a score of 351 and at 30m a score of 353.  Of a total of 144 arrows, 110 arrows were a 10 and 55 were an X10.    In the spring of 2011, Danelle went on to set a new world record of 675 points (out of 720) at 50m in the compound cadet women class, beating the previous world record by 8 points.    Danelle WENTZEL’s victory in Singapore echoes the recent string of successes from South African compound archers, which started with South Africa’s first world championships medal in 40 years (individual silver by Jorina COETZEE in Ulsan 2009), and continued with the performances of the men’s team, led by Danelle’s coach Seppie CILLIERS, who won the 2010 World Cup stage 2 in Antalya and the bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Will Danelle be the next great South African on the list?   Biography Extract :   Danelle WENTZEL (RSA) – Born on 20 January 1995   1st Individual Indoor World Cup stage 1 – Singapore 2012 9th Individual World Cup stage 3 – Ogden 2012 9th Individual World Indoor Championships – Las Vegas 2012 4th Mixed Team Cadet World Championships – Legnica 2011 8th Individual Cadet World Championships – Legnica 2011   More results information on Danelle WENTZEL and all other archers at the World Archery website.   World Archery Communication