Indoor Archery World Cup Champion in 2012 and team silver medallist at the world indoors in Izmir, Turkey in 2007, Lisa Unruh’s campaign in Ankara started the best it could have done when she posted 590 points during qualification for the top seed in the competition.
To make it into the arena she beat two-time team champ Veronika Marchenko from Ukraine, 6-2 and world silver medallist Kristine Esebua in the semi- and quarterfinals, respectively.
“I had a good start of the week with my qualification round and then that continued all the way through my individual matches. I was proud of myself,” Lisa, the Zagreb 2014 World Archery Field Champion, said.
Her opponent in the finals arena was Polish archer Natalia Lesniak, a team bronze medallist from Nimes in 2014, who won two shoot-offs during the elimination phases.
Lisa and Natalia each won a set top open the match, with the Lesniak needing a little more time to get settled in front of the crowd. From there on out, they were all tied.
At 4-4, with 10-9-10 in the target for Natalia and riding a pair of 10s into her final shot, favourite Unruh had a chance to take the match. She couldn’t quite find the middle, her arrow landing in the outer gold, for nine points, sent the title clash to a shoot-off.
Lisa shot first in the shoot-off: 10.
Natalia, second: 10. Lisa’s was closer.
She let out a huge sigh of relief.
“To finish the match against Natalia in a shoot-off was tough, but I really enjoyed that. It was very close,” said Unruh!
Third seeded in Ankara, Florian Floto, Florian Kahllund and Carlo Schmitz led France 4-0 in the final. A perfect set in the third helped the French trio catch up, then tie the match in the fourth, to force another tiebreaker.
Germany shot first: 30. France followed with a 29.
“It was good and we managed to go ahead 4-0, but then the match went 4-4. Shoot-offs are always a good way to fight your own nerves. Chasing it and win it was great!” said Floto.
Claudia Mandia from Italy won recurve women’s bronze in the individual competition. Russia collected the recurve men’s team bronze.
