Rio 2016 silver medallist Lisa Unruh scored 375 points out of a possible 432 to lead the recurve women’s 24-target ranking round at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland. She and Laurence Baldauff, who finished 14 points behind in second, landed the first two places in the tournament semifinals.
“The afternoon was really, really good. My shots felt better and I shot more sixes than fives. I was focused on my technique and doing the shots well,” said Lisa.
Over the unmarked round in the morning, the 2014 world field champion scored 182 points. She wasn’t satisfied: “I lost easy points on easy targets. I think sometimes I didn’t see how far the target was and sometimes I just had problems with my release.”
Adding 193 points over the marked round was enough not only to secure the first seed in the women’s event but post the second-best score on the course overall, behind just top-ranked man Brady Ellison.
“It’s an amazing feeling! It means that my hard work paid off and that I’m in good form, but I won’t be too relaxed, though. I want to win the show match so I can choose the group I want to shoot against in the semis,” said Unruh.
Second seed and Lisa’s opponent for the show match – after which the winner selects which pool winner they will face in the final four, before that pool is decided – is Austria’s Laurence Baldauff.
Laurence shot 181 points for the unmarked target and 180 for the marked, totalling 361.
“I feel great because I didn’t expect it at all,” said Laurence. “The World Games are the highlight of the year for me, so I must admit that I prepared pretty hard for them.”
“Last week things weren’t going well, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to do here. After checking my scores in the morning and now being able to confirm the second place in the afternoon, makes me really happy.”
According to the qualifying ranking, seeds 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 makes up pool A. Seeds 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12, pool B. The lowest two seeds shoot against each other and the winner stays on, shooting against the next lowest seed – until only one in each pool remains.
The two pool winners move into the semis with Lisa and Laurence.
The archery competitions at the 2017 World Games run 23-30 July in Wroclaw, Poland.
