Italy’s Amedeo Tonelli, ranked second after qualifying, defeated four-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Final Champion and top seed Brady Ellison, of the USA, in the recurve men’s gold medal match at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.
“This is my first World Games title, my first big individual competition. I’ve been out of the international competition for while, so this is a big achievement for me. I’m pretty happy to contribute to the Italian tradition of being consistent and good in field archery,” said Tonelli.
The pair had shot a show match ahead of eliminations, to decide who chose the pool opponent for the semifinals, and the Italian archer won that, too.
“Expectations were high. Brady is a 'beast', he’s the number one, so it’s really tough to shoot against him. I enjoyed the match, stayed focused and I did it,” he added.
After a semifinal that saw Ellison cruise to a 10-point win over Oonuki Wataru, starting with a perfect 18 on the first target and only building the lead over the subsequent three, he was quickly on the back foot in the final.
“I shot, just… my sightmarks were off; [it was] rough shooting a four on my first shot, not really knowing what that was and that cost me the match,” Ellison said.
He was two points down after the first target, 13-15, and never caught up.
“In the last target I needed to shoot 18 and I didn’t,” added Brady. “It was good match.”
After losing to Brady in the semis, Oonuki shot a perfect second target – the 20-metre bunny no less – to spark a bronze medal victory over Matija Mihalic, 63-60.
“This is Japan’s first field medal at the World Games and I’m happy about it. I’m a lucky boy,” said Oonuki.
Not just Japan’s, but the first World Games archery medal for any athlete from Asia.
“I’m very happy. Against Brady Ellison I was very, very nervous, had tension on my arms. Then, for the bronze medal, my heartbeat went down and told myself while shooting: ‘You can get this bronze medal’.”
The recurve field archery competition at the Wroclaw 2017 World Games ran 23-26 July in Szczytnicki Park.
