Target 52: the past, the present and the future?

Wroclaw 2014 5-10 August
Archery World Cup Stage 4

NEWS | SCOREBOARD 
RESULTS | PHOTOS
Wed 6 Aug Qualification
Thu 7 Aug Eliminations
Fri 8 Aug Team eliminations

Sat 9 Aug Compound finals
LIVE: Team | Individual
Sun 10 Aug Recurve finals
LIVE: Team | Individual

See full schedule

One of the best things about archery – at any level – is that qualification targets are randomly assigned. At national competitions, a relative newbie can end up scoring for an Olympian.

Internationally, it can throw together some interesting collections of athletes.

Target 52 in Wroclaw is one of those combinations: for the recurve ranking round, it’s got a taste bit of past, present and future about it.

[Disclaimer: we’re not saying any of these three is past it! They’re all shooting great right now.]

The past: Viktor RUBAN (UKR)

Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medallist RUBAN is the reigning indoor team world champion from Nimes in February, earlier this year. But the 33-year old Ukrainian can claim age and experience – and that huge accomplishment six years ago – over his younger targetmates.

The present: Rick VAN DEN OEVER (NED)

Part of the 2012 European Championship winning Dutch team and the trio that got silver at Belek 2013, VAN DEN OEVER is one a young Netherlands squad that’s become one of the most successful elite archery programmes in the world in recent years. That’s despite the nation’s small size.

Only two years after Beijing, Rick actually collected his own Olympic medal – at the 2010 Youth Games in Singapore. He lost in the boy’s final, receiving silver.

The future: Marcus DALMEIDA (BRA)

Youngest of the three shooting on target 52, DALMEIDA received his first national team cap in 2013. Just three years after he started archery.

At age 16, he won gold in the individual, team and mixed team competitions at the 2014 South American Games. (That was in March.)

He’s on course for Lausanne qualification, ranked fifth after all three of this year’s World Cup stages – and he’ll shoot at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games later this month.

A star on the rise.

Competition at the fourth 2014 Archery World Cup stage in Wroclaw is now running. Check event news, and visit World Archery’s Facebook page and @worldarchery on Twitter for coverage.