Valladont, van der Winkel lead Prize for Precision after season opener

France’s Jean-Charles Valldont and Laura van der Winkel of the Netherlands lead the SNGLRTY Prize for Precision rankings after the Hyundai Archery World Cup season opener in Antalya.

Both archers made the final fours in Türkiye – but neither won, JC came second in the recurve men’s event while Laura finished fourth in the women’s.

But over the 72 arrows of qualification and seven rounds of matchplay, the pair shot more arrows into the 10-ring. Van der Winkel’s 62 total 10s was one more than eventual stage winner Penny Healey (61), while Valladont accrued 85, 11 more than Brady Ellison.

Five-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion Ellison had three fewer rounds of matchplay in Antalya, which is at least 27 fewer arrows, having been knocked out in the last 16. 

The Prize for Precision returns for 2023 courtesy of World Archery’s new official timekeeper SNGLRTY.

The award recognises the most consistently accurate archers across a season, measured on who shoots the highest number of 10s – the maximum score with a single arrow – during qualification and matchplay. This year’s prize is for recurve men and women and the highest-ranked archers after Hermosillo will receive an exclusive SNGLRTY watch.

Prize for Precision standings after Antalya

See the full SNGLRTY Prize for Precision ranking lists online.

Recurve men

1. Jean-Charles Valladont, France – 85
2. Brady Ellison, USA – 74
3. Dhiraj Bommadevara, India – 72

Recurve women

1. Laura van der Winkel, Netherlands – 62
2. Penny Healey, Great Britain – 61
3. An Qixuan, China – 57

#PrecisionPoint

Elia Canales’ perfect arrow to essentially seal the recurve mixed team bronze medal match for Spain was picked as the SNGLRTY #PrecisionPoint of the season opener in Antalya. Even though Türkiye had an arrow left to shoot in the tiebreak, Mete Gazoz would have needed to land it closer to the middle of the target.

As it was succinctly put by analyst Sjef van den Berg, Canales’ arrow – which landed nearly dead-centre – was “pretty much impossible to beat”…