By the end of the semifinals at the fourth and final stage of this Hyundai Archery World Cup season all 28 places for Rome 2017 were settled, with reigning champions Ki Bo Bae, Mike Schloesser and Brady Ellison all safely qualified for the event.
Turkish compound archers Demir Elmaagacli and Yesim Bostan rode strong matchplay performances to both Berlin gold final berths and last-chance tickets to the Final.
Chang Hye Jin and Kim Woojin locked themselves in as strong favourites as top qualifiers – and India’s Deepika Kumari slipped into the recurve women’s line-up by extending her quarterfinal loss to four sets, and picking up a crucial extra ranking point.
“I love to shoot final matches, I love to play in the arena venue – I enjoy competing there,” said the four-time runner-up in the event.
Rome 2017 qualifiers
Recurve men: Kim Woojin, Korea; Im Dong Hyun, Korea; Brady Ellison, USA; Steve Wijler, Netherlands; Jean-Charles Valladont, France; Wei Chun-Heng, Chinese Taipei; Sjef van den Berg, Netherlands.
Recurve women: Chang Hye Jin, Korea; Ksenia Perova, Russia; Tan Ya-Ting, Chinese Taipei; Ki Bo Bae, Korea; Alejandra Valencia, Mexico; Deepika Kumari, India; Alicia Marin, Spain.
Compound men: Stephan Hansen, Denmark; Steve Anderson, USA; Braden Gellenthien, USA; Mike Schloesser, Netherlands; Demir Elmaagacli, Turkey; Pierre-Julien Deloche, France; Andreas Darum, Denmark.
Compound women: Sarah Sonnichsen, Denmark; Sara Lopez, Colombia; Sarah Prieels, Belgium; Andrea Marcos, Spain; Tanja Jensen, Denmark; Parisa Baratchi, Iran; Yesim Bostan, Turkey.
Denmark, as well as qualifying four athletes in the compound individual competitions, will compete in the mixed team match in Rome. The recurve mixed team contest against hosts Italy will either be shot by Chinese Taipei or Korea, depending on the outcome of the Berlin medal matches and subsequent world ranking list.
Italy is yet to name the archers that will represent the host nation in each event.
The 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final takes place 2/3 September in Rome, Italy
