The 50th World Archery Championships has started in the picturesque town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED), with Olympic qualifying spots on the line in addition to the world titles. The top eight teams in the men’s and women’s Recurve divisions will qualify to Tokyo, plus the top four individuals not affiliated with a team.
The best in the world are here, including 18 prior individual medal winners – 10 men and eight women – at the Olympic Games and Worlds:
Men:
● Brady Ellison (USA) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist; 2011 Worlds bronze medalist
● Woo-Jin Kim (KOR) ~ 2011 and 2015 World Champion
● Seung-Yun Lee (KOR) ~ 2013 World Champion
● Jean-Charles Valladont (FRA) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Chen-Heng Wei (TPE) ~ 2017 World Championships silver medalist
● Steve Wijler (NED) ~ 2017 World Championships bronze medalist
● Rick van der Ven (NED) ~ 2015 World Championships silver medalist
● Takaharu Fukuhara (JPN) ~ 2012 Olympic silver; 2013 Worlds bronze medalist
● Crispin Duenas (CAN) ~ 2013 World Championships bronze medalist
● Viktor Ruban (UKR) ~ 2008 Olympic Champion; 2009 Worlds bronze medalist
Women:
● Hye-Jin Chang (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 Worlds silver medalist
● Mi-Sun Choi (KOR) ~ 2015 World Championships bronze medalist
● Lisa Unruh (GER) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Aida Roman (MEX) ~ 2012 Olympic silver medalist
● Mariana Avitia (MEX) ~ 2012 Olympic bronze medalist
● Ksenia Perova (RUS) ~ 2017 World Champion
● Ya-Ting Tan (TPE) ~ 2017 World Championships bronze medalist
● Maja Jager (DEN) ~ 2013 World Champion
The Recurve class is shot at 70 m and will have finals on Sunday. In the Recurve qualifying round on Monday, Korea’s Woo-Seok Lee led at 696/720, followed by Ellison (695) and Koreans Seung-Yun Lee and Woo-Jin Lee (KOR) at 693. The women’s Recurve qualifying was led by Chae-Young Kang (KOR), who set a world record of 692, followed by Chien-Ying Lei (TPE) and Yichai Zheng (CHN) at 680.
In the Compound Division – not contested in the Olympic Games – arrows are shot at 50m. The 12 prior Worlds medalists entered include:
Men:
● Sebastien Peineau (FRA) ~ 2017 World Champion
● Stephan Hansen (DEN) ~ 2015 World Champion; 2017 World Champs silver medalist
● Braden Gellenthien (USA) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
● Rajat Chauhan (IND) ~ 2015 Worlds silver medalist
● Adam Ravenscroft (GBR) ~ 2015 Worlds bronze medalist
● Mike Schloesser (NED) ~ 2013 World Champion
● Pierre-Julien Deloche (FRA) ~ 2013 Worlds silver medalist
● Alexander Dambaev (RUS) ~ 2013 Worlds bronze medalist
Women:
● Yesim Bostan (TUR) ~ 2017 World Champs silver medalist
● Kristina Heigenhauser (GER) ~ 2017 Worlds Champs bronze medalist
● Yun-Hee Kim (KOR) ~ 2015 World Champion
● Sara Lopez (COL) ~ 2015 World Champs bronze medalist
The seasonal World Cup leaders include Gellenthien (USA: 47 points), Schloesser (NED: 43) and Kris Schaff of the U.S. (USA: 33). The women’s leader is Alexis Ruiz (USA: 57), Tanja Jansen (DEN: 31) and Lopez (COL: 30).
The qualifying rounds are being held at the Dukes Rugby Field and the finals on the Stadium Parade grounds. Look for results here.
