Broadwater defends Indoor Archery World Cup crown in Vegas

Jesse Broadwater successfully defended his compound men’s Indoor Archery World Cup Champion title at the series finale on Saturday evening at The Vegas Shoot 2017 by beating reigning World Archery Field Champion Steve Anderson, 146 to 145 points, in front of a capacity Southpoint arena crowd.

“It was a good match. Going against Steve, it was a win-win either way. I like Steve, he’s a good guy. It didn’t matter if I win or lost and I didn’t get too worked up, I just wanted to shoot good shots and it’s always good to get that experience under the spotlights,” said Broadwater.

“I feel like I could have shot a lot better match, so I still have some work to do. I feel good about winning but I still strive to shoot perfect matches.”

Broadwater was perfect through two ends of the 15-arrow final.

He put two shots in the nine in the third end and his advantage decreased to just one point, which he was able to defend until the close of regulation as the pair matched each other, shot for shot, over the back half.

“Last year I didn’t really expect to make the finals and this year was kind of the same. The competition’s so tough these days. You’ve got Stephan Hansen and Mikey and all these guys.”

“It’s so tight and all these guys are shooting so good. There’s definitely a little bit of luck in making a gold medal match,” Broadwater added.

The compound women’s gold went to a Danish archer for the second year in a row, after Sarah Sonnichsen won the event in 2016.

Tanja Jensen, the only woman still on a perfect 600 points after two days of The Vegas Shoot in 2017, forged a lead over Andrea Marcos that was capped with a near-perfect finish. Jensen shot five consecutive 10s before only needing a seven to take the match with her final arrow.

“Last year was amazing to see her [Sarah] take the win and this year she got to see me do it. I think we’re just happy for each other,” said Jensen. “I can finally see all my practice pay off so I’m just really, really happy.”

Song Jiyung and London 2012 Olympic Champion Oh Jin Hyek took the recurve women’s and men’s gold medals after two all-Korean finals.

Song beat Jin Yun, 6-2, and Oh took down Gye Dong Hyun in a shoot-off. Both the men’s arrows landed in similar places, low and right in the gold – but Oh’s sneaked inside the 10 ring and Gye’s was a clear nine.

“It’s been three years since the 2014 Asian Games and it’s my first international win since then,” said Oh. “I’ve always tried to improve since then – and I’m really happy to have won.”

The Vegas Shoot continues with its final day, followed by shootdowns in the major classes.

The fourth stage and final of the 2016/17 Indoor Archery World Cup runs 10/11 February 2017 in Las Vegas, USA as part of The Vegas Shoot on 10-12 February.