Brady Ellison caps incredible season with victory at Hyundai Archery World Cup Final

Brady Ellison won his fifth Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion title with a 6-2 victory over Mauro Nespoli in Moscow, completing an incredible season that saw the 30-year-old become world champion, break the 70-metre ranking round world record and rise to the top spot in the world rankings.

“Yeah, I’m so excited and it’s my fifth win. I won my first one and this is the 10th one I’ve been to, so to win the first and the 10th, I’m just super stoked right now,” said Ellison.

“It was a hell of a year and I’ve just got to get back home and start training again and get back in the gym and really get ready to rock next year.”

The gold medal also means the USA’s Ellison keeps pace with Sara Lopez of Colombia after her compound women’s title yesterday. The pair remains tied on career Hyundai Archery World Cup Final wins at five.

Brady beat Artem Makhnenko and Sjef van den Berg before Nespoli in the final. It is his seventh consecutive win over Sjef and sixth in a row over Mauro.

The campaign looked in doubt when Brady shot a seven to open the third set against Sjef. The Dutchman let his decorated opponent off the hook, closing with a seven, too.

“It was just a bad shot. I got a knot in my shoulder just from sleeping wrong… it was just kinda hard to pull through a couple of those shots,” said Ellison.

“I did not think I was going to get that set at all. I was figuring it was going to be a fight but unfortunately for him and fortunately for me, the only time we both shot a bad arrow today was in the same end and I just happened to be the luckier of the two.”

Brady closed with a 29 and maintained that pace through the final. He edged the second and fourth sets, each by a point, with 29s. That was enough.

The silver medal is Mauro’s first individual podium at a Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.

He has appeared in four editions of the season-ending event over his career, including the last three. The 31-year-old Italian archer also came fourth at the Hyundai World Archery Championships that Brady won earlier in 2019.

“I’m super happy. I’m very proud of this competition. I worked a lot,” said Mauro. “I put all my best shooting into this match and also in the semifinal. And I’m very satisfied with what I did.”

“I just need to feel used to something like this. Next time for sure it will be better.”

After the semifinal loss, Sjef entered the bronze medal match determined.

He outclassed two-time World Archery Champion Kim Woojin with a perfect 30 in the second set and never let the Korean archer into the match. Sjef won the third, 28-27, and the fourth, 29-28, to take the third spot on the podium.

“I was surprised as well how I held and how I just shot in general. I knew that I wasn’t going to win the tournament so that took some load off my shoulders,” he said.

“I’m super happy to come away with bronze. I lost against Brady, again, and he seems to be my white whale for the moment but I think I’m getting closer to where I want to be.”

“I’m really happy to take a medal again because I’ve had a lot of fourth places and this is very good to end the season with.”

Despite a recent string of strong results, the Dutchman’s last medal on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit had come back in 2016 – when he finished runner-up at the Final in Odense to Brady.

The 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final took place on 6-7 September in Moscow, Russia.