Preview: Archery World Cup returns to Shanghai after four years

The second stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup takes place next week in Shanghai.

It will be the first time that the international archery tour visits China since before the pandemic. (The last stage held in this city was in 2019.)

Three of the four first-time winners who took honours at the season opener last month – Penny Healey, Jozef Bosansky and Jyothi Surekha Vennam – plus all four current number ones in the Sanlida World Archery Ranking lists will be in China.

As will Korea, the team making its circuit debut this year after missing Antalya to finish internal trials.

Key information

What’s happening? The second stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup on 16-21 May at the Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium for the qualification and elimination rounds, and on the Lujiazui Riverside Promenade for finals weekend.

What’s at stake? Stage winners automatically book a ticket for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in September, with points towards the World Cup Ranking and Sanlida World Archery Ranking also available.

Who’s competing? Nearly 300 archers from 40 countries.

What’s the story? Shanghai returns to the calendar after a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The Korean city of Gwangju hosted last year’s Asian leg. This year is a big one for Asian countries – as it’s not just a world championship season and the start of Olympic qualifying, but the massive multisport Asian Games take place in September.

On the hunt

There’s a marked lean towards Asian nations on the entry list for Shanghai next week. Big teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and India, as well as a full recurve squad for the hosts, provide a good chunk of the 300-strong field.

At the other end of the scale, just two US archers are in Shanghai.

Five-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion Brady Ellison and Montana-based training-mate Kris Schaff are the lone members of the States squad to make the trip. World number one Marcus D’Almeida and Ane Marcelle Dos Santos are on hand for Brazil.

If in doubt, get your best archers on the line… and get results.

Event schedule

• Tuesday 16 May: Compound qualifying
• Wednesday 17 May: Recurve qualifying
• Thursday 18 May: Compound eliminations
• Friday 19 May: Recurve eliminations
• Saturday 20 May: Compound finals*
• Sunday 21 May: Recurve finals*

*Teams in the morning, individual final fours in the afternoon.

How to watch

Coverage of the first stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup is being shown worldwide by broadcast partners. Check local listings on CCTV (China), Claro Sports (Latin America), Eleven (Chinese Taipei), Eurosport (Europe), SpoTV (Korea and Southeast Asia), SETIndia (Indian subcontinent), Rai (Italy) and TRT (Turkey).

The event is being streamed live by the Olympic Channel in other territories.

Live scores will be available on the World Archery website, and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.

Who’s competing?

Three of four individual winners from the Asian leg of last year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit, in Gwangju, will participate next week in Shanghai:

• Recurve men: Kim Woojin, Korea
• Recurve women: Choi Misun, Korea
• Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands
• Compound women: Kim Yunhee, Korea (not competing)

These are the top-ranked archers competing at this year’s event:

• Recurve men: Marcus D’Almeida, Brazil (world rank: 1)
• Recurve women: Penny Healey, Great Britain (world rank: 1)
• Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (world rank: 1)
• Compound women: Ella Gibson, Great Britain (world rank: 1)

A total of 297 (172 men, 125 women) athletes from the following 40 teams are registered to compete at the tournament:  Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Macau China, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, USA, US Virgin Islands and Uzbekistan.

Competition in Shanghai starts with compound qualifying on Tuesday afternoon.