It was Türkiye’s day in the compound team medal matches as the nation won two of the three gold-medal contests against the USA at the second stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai.
Hazal Burun, Defne Cakmak and Emine Rabia Oguz began strongly by defeating the world number three-ranked USA compound women’s team in a topsy-turvy match that exchanged leads right up until the fourth and final end, securing the trio’s first World Cup gold together.
Emircan Haney, Batuhan Akcaoglu and Yagiz Sezgin followed suit against the new-look USA compound men’s team of James Lutz, Louis Price and Gaius Carter, winning 234-231 in what was the Turkish trio’s seventh World Cup appearance together.
Alexis Ruiz – who also shoots later this afternoon in the compound women’s individual finals – and reigning World Cup champion Lutz did respond in the mixed team gold medal match, however, edging long-time rivals Burun and Haney 157-154 to deny Türkiye a clean sweep.
“It was a great day, we competed very well in both team events,” said Burun, who was part of Türkiye’s winning team at Essen 2024 European Championships. “We had a loss in the mixed team, but we did our best. We are working for this and we will continue to work.”
“We finished the competition very well, and now we will prepare even better for the upcoming competitions, addressing our shortcomings and working even harder.”
Burun added that the Turkish compound women’s squad has spent a long time developing together and believes the team will continue improving.
The same overall result carried different meanings for Türkiye’s men’s and women’s teams.
For Burun and her teammates, competing in a World Cup stage final together was an entirely new experience. With all three archers still in their early twenties, their excitement at simply being on the stage may even have helped them avoid overcomplicating the occasion.
For Akcaoglu, Sezgin and Haney, however, opportunities at this level have become familiar – but until Saturday they had repeatedly fallen short.
The Turkish trio most recently claimed silver at the opening stage of the season in Puebla, which marked their fourth World Cup team silver together. One of those defeats also came against the USA at Yecheon 2024, where they lost 235-233.
But on a bright morning at Riverside Financial Plaza in Shanghai’s Pudong district, the narrative finally changed.
The Turkish trio matched scores with Lutz, Carter and Price through the opening three ends before the USA dropped two nines and an eight in the fourth, while Türkiye closed with a formidable 59 to secure victory, 234-231.
Victory at last.
“It’s the perfect feeling, perfect atmosphere here taking gold at stage two in Shanghai,” said Akcaoglu, who shot five 10s as the first shooter in the team. “Last year we took silver in the men’s team [at Antalya 2025], and now here we are. We were prepared, we were ready and we took the gold.”
“The conditions are windy – it’s tricky out there. The match was really close. Our opponent is really strong, but we are also strong.”
Competition in Shanghai continues this afternoon with the compound individual finals.
Podiums: Shanghai 2026
Full results on the event page.
Compound men’s team
- Türkiye (Emircan Haney, Batuhan Akcaoglu, Yagiz Sezgin)
- USA (James Lutz, Louis Price, Gaius Carter)
- China (Shi Jingyu, Liu Jinyi, Qi Xiangshuo)
Compound women’s team
- Türkiye (Hazal Burun, Defne Cakmak, Emine Rabia Oguz)
- USA (Olivia Dean, Kaylee Gurney, Alexis Ruiz)
- Mexico (Andrea Becerra, Ana Sofía Hernández, Dafne Quintero)
Compound mixed team
- USA (Alexis Ruiz, James Lutz)
- Türkiye (Hazal Burun, Emircan Haney)
- Estonia (Lisell Jaatma, Robin Jaatma)
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