The Italian team led the medal table at the 2017 World Archery Europe Indoor Championships. Olympian David Pasqualucci won recurve men’s gold, and Jacopo Polidori beat out world number one Mike Schloesser for the compound men’s title, as Italy’s archers secured 10 total medals at the championship.
Pasqualucci survived a second-round shoot-off scare then beat teammate Massimiliano Mandia and Rio runner-up JC Valladont, of France, before winning an impressive final against Moldova’s Dan Olaru.
Athens 2004 Olympic Champion Marco Galiazzo lost the recurve men’s bronze medal match to Valladont but, with Pasqualucci and Mandia, picked up team gold.
Top seed Mike Schloesser was also the highest-scoring archer on the field through the elimination phases – but, in the final, he was found wanting against Polidori. Tied at 89 points each after three ends, Schloesser put an arrow into the nine in each of the last two series while his opponent stayed clean – and won gold, 149-147.
Polidori and the Italian compound men’s team – featuring Sergio Pagni and Michele Nencioni – also beat out Schloesser’s Netherlands to the team title in Vittel.
Italy picked up further gold medals in the recurve junior women’s team and individual events, had the second-placed compound junior men’s, junior women’s and women’s squads – and Marcella Tonioli won individual compound women’s bronze.
Ukraine’s Veronika Marchenko won the recurve women’s European indoor title, while Alexandra Savenkova, from Russia, took gold in the compound women’s competition.
European Indoor Champions 2017
- Recurve men: David Pasqualucci, Italy
- Recurve women: VERONIKA MARCHENKO, Ukraine
- Compound men: JACOPO POLIDORI, Italy
- Compound women: ALEXANDRA SAVENKOVA, Russia
- Recurve junior men: ERDAL MERIC DAL, Turkey
- Recurve junior women: TATIANA ANDREOLI, Italy
- Compound junior men: NICO WIENER, Austria
- Compound junior women: MARIYA SHKOLNA, Poland
The World Archery Europe Indoor Championships took place on 5-12 March 2017 in Vittel, France.
