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Two world number ones, six first-timers make compound final fours in Shanghai

18 May 2023

Shanghai, China

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Ella Gibson and Mike Schloesser were joined by a string of first-timers in the compound final fours at the second stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China.

Weather conditions were poor throughout Thursday’s eliminations – athletes found them ‘confusing’ and ‘tough’ – with mild rain falling throughout the session.

Upsets ensued, particularly on the women’s side.

The semifinals line-up includes British world number one Gibson, India’s Avneet Kaur, Türkiye’s Ipek Tomruk and Korea’s Su A Cho who are ranked 64, 100 and 118 respectively.

“I am very happy to make another top four,” said Gibson. “I had some tricky matches.

The Brit admitted not shooting her best today, but that she could have a good game plan going into the weekend.

“I finished fourth in Antalya, so I’m definitely hoping to play the [gold medal] final this time.”

Schloesser, defending title holder on the tour, will face more established opponents, but few would have banked on Estonia’s Robin Jaatma, Korea’s Yang Jaewon and India’s Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar joining him in the medal matches.

The way seems clear for Schloesser to take yet another World Cup gold as he beat Mathias Fullerton convincingly in the quarterfinals.

Standing in his way of the gold medal match will be Yang, who switched up his technique mid-competition and went on to beat Antalya gold medallist Jozef Bosansky.

The odds were stacked against India’s Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar, seeded 33 and shooting at just his second World Cup.

The 19-year-old led from wire to wire to knock out top seed, Kim Jongho of Korea, 149-147.

He looked unstoppable from there, beating Denmark’s Martin Damsbo and then Korean veteran Choi Yonghee to complete a dream day.

“I feel absolutely great,” said Jawkar. “In my mind, I was thinking I needed to keep my composure and stay in the present.”

He’ll face Jaatma in the semifinals, who went out in the first round in Antalya and revealed not being happy with his current shooting set-up, but still managed to reach the final four in Shanghai.

India’s leading hope heading into stage two seemed to come from Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who won a fairytale compound women’s gold at stage one.

But Vennam struggled in qualifying and went out in the quarterfinals, paving the way for Kaur to make a deep run.

The 18-year-old pulled off the shock of the day in beating Korea’s Oh Yoohyun, holding off a comeback from the top seed to win the tiebreaker.

“It’s a great moment for me to be in the semifinals,” said Kaur. “This is my best show in individual events and I want to give credit to my coaches and family.”

She will have to raise her level even further when she faces Gibson in the semifinals on Saturday.

Tomruk, fresh from leading Türkiye to women’s team bronze on Wednesday, took out second seed Song Yun Soo. That set up a meeting with another Korean, Su A Cho, who stopped in-form Italian Elisa Roner in a quarterfinal tiebreaker.

Competition continues with mixed team eliminations on Friday morning in Shanghai.