Final fours: Who will win stage four in Medellin?

The fourth and final stage of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia has just two days left.

It's the last chance for athletes to secure their spot at the prestigious 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Mexico in October.

We are now down to the final fours in both recurve and compound men's and women's individual competition and that means just 16 athletes are left.

Ahead of the finals, former recurve Olympian Sjef van den Berg gave his predictions on who will win and why.

"I'm really excited. It's an important world cup. It’s the last stage of this year," said van den Berg on The Archery Show on Friday.  "Medellin is a mix of people just enjoying the world cup and people who are really, really trying to qualify for that very coveted final."

The compound finals are scheduled for the afternoon on Saturday 23 July and the recurve will follow in the afternoon on Sunday 24 July. Both finals sessions start at 14h00 local time (that’s 19h00 UTC) and you can follow the action worldwide.

Compound women

• Ella Gibson, Great Britain (seeded 1)
• Sara Lopez, Colombia (5)
• Andrea Becerra, Mexico (6)
• Dafne Quintero, Mexico (2)

Sjef says: "Any real archery fan will be very excited to see the Gibson vs Lopez match and so am I. They've been very evenly-matched in the scores that they've shot up to this match. But so far, the way it is going right now, Ella has the edge this season, winning the World Games final and then becoming world number one."

"To me, it screams Ella. She has been so on point and so confident that it wouldn't make sense to pick somebody else. She's just been shooting so well and she's only 22. She will have the space and the time to continue growing and see if she can cement a place in the history books like Sara has."

"You can never count out Lopez though. There's definitely a good reason for Sara to be a bit nervous about this competition and it's really impressive that she managed to get to the top four with the level around her, her peers, getting better. It's not only her at the top anymore."

"But there's a reason she's been the world's number one for so long. She has shot a couple of 149s in the earlier rounds: 149 It's nothing to be sad about. It's a very, very high score. She's getting back in competition shape."

"As for the all-Mexican semifinal. Well, to shoot against a teammate and to know it beforehand can be tough. I had this happen to me and Steve Wijler in Moscow at the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final. We were drafted to shoot against each other in the first round, heard so on Wednesday and the match was on Sunday, which was terribly awkward because you are teammates but also opponents for the days in between."

"It might be different for everyone, but Steve and I agreed afterwards that we hoped that wouldn't happen again."

The favourite? Ella Gibson

Compound men

• Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (1)
• Miguel Becerra, Mexico (12)
• Jean Philippe Boulch, France (22)
• James Lutz, USA (2)

Sjef says: "Jimmy Lutz hasn't been so active on the finals field as of late, but he has been up there. All four archers have a good shot at this."

"I might surprise you here even though it breaks my heart not to pick Mike. I have picked Mike pretty much any other time this season and been right most of the time. It's the most obvious choice but I think I would go for JP Boulch in this case because he was very good in Birmingham at the World Games. He was very good towards these final fours."

"He has a bit of redemption to get here, to get redemption for his second place in Birmingham."

The favourite? Jean Philippe Boulch

Recurve women

• An San, Korea (1)
• Katharina Bauer, Germany (4)
• Kang Chae Young, Korea (3)
• Lee Gahyun, Korea (2)

Sjef says:  "An San is the obvious choice. She seeded first and that's a good place to be. Her strength is that she has shown her mental fortitude in Tokyo winning three gold medals, but that might also be her weakness. A lot of expectations are on her shoulders to make the World Cup Final and she will need a good result to get there."

"But Katharina has nothing to lose. She will mostly be happy to be where she is and she'll have two matches to show her worth at another finals venue after coming off of a great European Championships in her home town of Munich. Statistically-speaking, the odds are against her, but in a short format match and set system, anything can happen."

"Out of the three Koreans, Lee Gahyun is by far the least experienced. For shooters from other countries I would deem this a negative thing but for Korean archers, their national circuit is such a high level that I am sure she can handle the pressure of performing on the world stage."

"Kang has over the years gone from 'young Korean archer' to a weathered competitor and seemingly has enjoyed being out there more and more. Although her nickname is The Destroyer, she is actually quite kind and soft-mannered. Don't let that fool you though. She will always shoot very consistent and high scores, especially in a finals venue."

"I cannot look past An San though. A year ago she convincingly won the Olympics and being back as number one in the qualification round tells me she is here for business."

The favourite? An San

Recurve men

• Mauro Nespoli, Italy (17)
• Miguel Alvarino Garcia, Spain (13)
• Jack Williams, USA (3)
• Kim Woojin, Korea (2)

Sjef says:  "Arguably, Miguel is the best performing archer this season across all recurve men. Having seen a lot from him so far this year he seems to have found an improvement not only to his technique but also to his mindset. In clutch moments he is able to pull some amazing stuff out of the bag and reel in win after win."

"Mauro has had a good season so far but hasn't shown us yet what he can do on the individual stage. His efforts in team and mixed team have been very impressive and he has consistently been getting good results. He will be eyeing a podium position here."

"Like Miguel, having qualified as a stage winner already, Kim has nothing to prove. He will just be looking to show the world once more what he is capable of. The only thing I can think of that would make him have a bit of nerves is that he is the only Korean man in the top four and he will want to do well for his country. Shooting finals is just something he is used to and enjoys doing for the rest."

"However, for me, it's Jack Williams. He is here with one mission and one mission only: he needs that ticket to the World Cup Final to defend his title from last year."

"For the other archers in the top four they are merely trying to win this particular stage but I can only imagine that quota for the finals will be difficult to forget about for Jack. Not only that, but it is clear: Jack wins, he goes to the finals, Jack loses, Brady goes to the finals. A lot going on there. It can either fuel Jack to do well or be a distraction from the task at hand."

"During The Archery Show and before recurve eliminations had finished I already said that Jack was going to do well this tournament and him getting to the top four is a confirmation of that statement. I would love to see him go all the way and take this stage win. He's had a very good qualification round and that is a good measurement of how somebody's feeling."

"He’ll want to see if he can prolong his stay as Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion."

The favourite? Jack Williams