Ninety-five archers from 33 different countries comprise the entry list for the archery at the 2017 World Games, being held in the Polish city of Wroclaw. Five, out of six, defending champions from Cali 2013 will mount campaigns to retain their titles.
Here are eight facts as the competition kicks off…
1. World Games Champions
JC Valladont, Naomi Folkard, Giuseppe Seimandi, Lina Bjorklund and Reo Wilde, all previous World Games archery champions, are in Wroclaw to defend their titles.
The only one missing is Erika Jones, who – after taking that time off to have a baby - didn’t make the team.
2. Medallists
There are 11 other archers in Wroclaw, aside from the returning winners who have previously climbed the podium at a World Games:
- VIC WUNDERLE
2009 - BRADY ELLISON 2013
- Naomi Folkard
2009, 2013 - JESSICA TOMASI
2009, 2013 - DAVID GARCIA
2013 - Giuseppe Seimandi 2009, 2013
- ERIK JONSSON
2001, 2005 - Lina Bjorklund 2013
- Reo Wilde 2013
- ROBERTO HERNANDEZ
2013 - SARA LOPEZ
2013
2009
2009, 2013
2009, 2013
2013
2001, 2005
2013
20133. Record
Of all the athletes in Poland, only Erik Jonsson and Giuseppe Seimandi have won the event twice: Erik in 2001 and 2005, Giuseppe in 2009 and 2013. If either of them wins in Wroclaw, they’ll match Swede Morgan Lundin’s record of three World Games crowns.
Lundin won in 1993, 1997 and 2005, when compound was part of the field archery event.
4. Structure
Unlikely any other archery event, the World Games features recurve and barebow field archery competitions – held under new rules – and a 50-metre target archery event for compounds.
In the compound event…
…48 athletes, 24 men and 24 women, compete with a maximum of two of each gender from each country.
…three medals are awarded: individual men and women, and mixed team.
In the recurve and barebow events…
…24 athletes, 12 men and 12 women, compete with a maximum of one per gender from each country, except the reigning World Archery Champion and host nations (which can have two).
…qualification is held over 24 targets only, 12 marked and 12 unmarked, in one day. That’s less than the previous 48-target, two-day format.
…athletes will compete in a shoot-up elimination in two pools, to decide who shoots against the top two qualifiers in the semifinals.
More on this available in our guide to archery at the World Games.
5. Venues
Three venues, all in short distance of one another, are in use for the archery competitions in Wroclaw.
Szczytnicki Park, the largest and oldest green space in Wroclaw, hosts the recurve and barebow field competition on 23-27 July. Two courses – marked and unmarked, eliminations and finals – have been laid between 50 different native tree species and a pretty lake.
On 29 July, compound archery moves to AWF Witelona, next to the park, for compound qualification and eliminations.
Then it’s over the road to an arena familiar with international compound archers, as Centennial Hall was previously used for the finals of the Hyundai Archery World Cup stage in Wroclaw.
6. Oldest
Compound woman Sherry Gale is the oldest archer on the field at the World Games. The 59 year old from Australia was last seen at the World Archery Field Championships in Dublin in 2016 where she finished 22nd individually and ninth with the Australian women team.
7. …and youngest
Just 18 years of age, compound man Khambeswaran Mohanaraja, from Malaysia, is the youngest archer at these World Games. Khambeswaran won his spot at the multisport event by finishing fourth at the Asia Cup continental qualification tournament held in Bangkok early in 2017.
8. Qualifying
Since it’s only the compounders who’ll shoot the same qualification as before, a 72-arrow 50-metre ranking round, these are the only scores from Cali 2013 to compare:
- Compound man: SERGIO PAGNI 711
- Compound women: Erika Jones 704
Recurve and barebow archers will shoot at 12 marked and 12 unmarked targets; maximum score: 432 points.
The archery competitions at the 2017 World Games run 23-30 July in Wroclaw, Poland.
