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All to play for as recurve final fours decided in Medellin

22 juillet 2022

Medellin, Colombia

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Mauro Nespoli, Kim Woojin, Miguel Alvarino Garcia and Jack Williams, plus the Korea trio of An San, Kang Chae Young and Lee Gahyun alongside Katharina Bauer have all made it through to the recurve individual final fours of stage four of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia.

After eliminations completed on Friday afternoon not only were all eight semifinal athletes known for the last stage of the circuit, but almost all of those for the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Mexico coming up in October too.

“I’m very happy today,” said Italian Nespoli who confirmed his place in both the Medellin final fours and in Tlaxcala on points with a 7-1 defeat of the USA’s Matthew Requa.

“I didn’t shoot good in the last days, but day by day I was more confident with my technique and today was amazing. I was shooting very well and I’m very happy. I like this field.”

Nespoli’s qualification meant that only the USA’s Williams was unsure of his season-ending final spot out of the recurve men in the individual final fours in Medellin.

His progress on Sunday will be closely watched by teammate Brady Ellison. Should Williams win, Ellison is out of contention for Mexico, should Williams not win, Brady will be in on points with the three other archers already secure.

Williams is the reigning Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion having beaten Ellison in a final shoot-off in Yankton last year.

Germany's Katharina Bauer realises she has qualified for the final fours in Medellin and World Cup Final in Mexico

In the women’s semifinals three of the four athletes involved in Medellin have not sealed their Mexico spots yet and all three are Korean.

The trio of An, Kang and Lee are in an almost default play-off for Tlaxcala with only Germany’s Bauer certain of being in the season-ender, having confirmed enough points with her last four spot on Friday.

If any of the Koreans win they will join teammate Choi Misun in Tlaxcala as a stage winner, but if Bauer were to secure her first-ever Hyundai Archery World Cup stage individual gold, then the Korean with the highest points total will qualify.

It could be any of the three.

“It is both comfortable and hard for me because they’re my colleagues,” said An about the possibility of facing a teammate in the final.

“But I’ll focus on my own match and do my best.”

The result for Bauer comes after she described a new-found freedom following her failure to qualify for Tokyo 2020 last year and also represents a big result for Germany who had to refresh themselves after the retirement of reigning Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion, Lisa Unruh, ahead of this season.

“I’m speechless. I was really shaky and nervous but on the shooting line I stayed with myself,” said Bauer. “I did what I told you what I want to do: I just followed my process and my shooting routine and it worked out.”

Competition continues on Saturday with compound team medal matches in the morning.