At the ninth edition of the Hyundai Archery World Cup stage in Shanghai, finals will take place in Lujiazui park in the centre of the Pudong business district for the first time, right by the Shanghai Tower and World Financial Centre, affectionately known as the bottle opener!
Here, top athletes have the opportunity to cash in on ranking points and get the race to Odense City started. Here are our picks for the headline matches on compound Saturday...
Compound women’s individual gold medal match (afternoon session): SARA LOPEZ 
/ SARAH HOLST SONNICHSEN 
Sara Lopez won her second Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in a row in 2015 in Mexico City. In Shanghai, where she won gold in both individual and mixed team events also in 2015, she’s already looking forward to making it a third consecutive Hyundai Archery World Cup title.
Seeded first, Sara beat Fatin Mat Salleh, World Field Champion Toja Cerne and Jeanine van Kradenburg. In the semis, she beat Korean Seol Dayeong by three.
Her opponent in the final, Las Vegas Indoor Archery World Cup winner Sarah Sonnichsen of Denmark. Sarah qualified third with 702, six and three points behind Sara Lopez and Crystal Gauvin, respectively.
After admitting the reason for her great performance was breaking up with her boyfriend, she dispatched Rosalia Dominguez, Amelie Sancenot and the experienced Inge Van Caspel. In the semis, she upset Linda Ochoa-Anderson by three points, 147-144.
Sara, without the h, has an incredible pedigree that includes being unbeated in Hyundai Archery World Cup stage finals since the start of 2015, but Sarah, with an h, won’t be a pushover…
Advantage: Push
Compound women’s individual bronze medal match (afternoon session): SEOL DAYEONG 
/ LINDA OCHOA-ANDERSON 
2015 World Cup bronze medallist Linda Ochoa-Anderson qualified seventh, just three points behind her opponent Seol Dayeong, who was fourth.
She beat Saskia Meynen, Lily chanu Paonam and USA’s Cristal Gauvin. In the semis, she lost against Sarah Sonnichsen by three, 147-144. Seol made her international debut in 2015, taking home two medals with the Korean women’s team: Silver in Antalya and bronze in Copenhagen.
She posted a 147-point average in her four matches to make her way through the matchplay brackets.
Advantage: Linda
Compound men’s individual gold medal match (afternoon session): MIKE SCHLOESSER 
/ DEMIR ELMAAGACLI 
Before last year’s World Cup Final in Mexico City, Demir Elmaagacli never climbed the podium at the senior level. Before 2015, his only finals appearance was in 2014, when he finished fourth in Shanghai.
He beat Dutchman Peter Elzinga with a perfect 150 in the semis, to meet another Dutch man in the finals… the one and only: Mike “Mr Perfect” Schloesser.
Mike broke the world qualifying record with 717 out of 720 points. He won his semifinal match against Aussie Michael Brosnan with a perfect 150, against Michael’s 145.
Advantage: Mike
Compound men’s individual bronze medal match (afternoon session): MICHAEL BROSNAN 
/ PETER ELZINGA
Last time Australia’s Michael Brosnan competed internationally was in Shanghai in 2014, where he took silver with the compound men’s team.
Qualified at 44, he then proceeded to upset, on his way to the finals, Alexander Dambaev from Russia and Denmark’s Patrick Laursen. In the semis, he lost to Mr Perfect, Mike Schloesser, by five.
In the bronze medal match, he’ll meet another Dutch: Peter Elzinga, who shot a 150 in the third round against Reginald Kools from Belgium. He beat Seppie Cilliers in the quarters and then lost to Demir Elmaagacli in the semis by three, 150-147.
Advantage: Peter
Compound mixed team gold medal match (afternoon session): Colombia / France 
Fourth-seeded Lopez and Munoz, the Colombian duo, took gold in Shanghai in 2015. They took advantage of a half of the bracket that was thrown into anarchy when the favourites – the USA – were upset in the first round by Malaysia.
The French, meanwhile, orchestrated their own destiny, taking out the Danes by a point in the quarterfinals to spring a run at the gold final.
Advantage: Colombia
Compound women’s team gold medal match (morning session): RUSSIA 
/ DENMARK
Russia and Denmark faced each other just two months ago at the Indoor World Archery Championships in Ankara, Turkey, where Denmark won in a shoot-off.
Although indoor is a completely different game from outdoor, both Russia and Denmark are represented in Shanghai by the same squad.
Second seed Denmark upset Hong Kong in the third round, despatching The Netherlands and Germany. Russia beat France and first seed Korea.
In both teams there’s a mix of experience, talent and friendship… your call!
Advantage: Push
Compound men’s team gold medal match (morning session): IR Iran 
/ USA 
In 2015, Iran went from winning silver in Shanghai to become world champion in Copenhagen.
This year, and qualified tenth, Iran upset The Netherlands in a shoot-off and France by one point to make the final against number one seed USA, the team that raised its own compound men’s world record ranking round mark by three.
The team beat Hong Kong by a 16-point gap, 236-220, and Turkey and Australia by two and one, respectively.
Advantage: USA
