Sarah Sonnichsen beat Turkish archer Yesim Bostan to the compound women’s gold medal at stage four of the Hyundai Archery World Cup, taking her 2017 circuit medal total to nine – out of a possible twelve gongs – increasing her lead in the World Cup rankings and, post-Berlin, reclaiming the world number one ranking from Sara Lopez.
It will be the second time this year Sarah has been ranked top.
She overtook Sara Lopez, who had been number one for 1033 days prior, after Salt Lake City – but ceded the position to Lopez, again, after the Colombian athlete won the World Games. Lopez did not compete in Berlin.
“I didn’t know I was [going to be] world number one again, it’s a really amazing feeling when you’re the best in the world,” said Sonnichsen. “Of course it means something for me, it means battling. We’ve been battling the entire year to be number one.”
Sarah beat Yesim Bostan by three points in the semifinals at the 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Odense, Denmark. The Berlin match between the two 22-year-olds was closer.
Neither missed the gold, but Sonnichsen had more 10s. She took victory, 144-143, and her second stage individual gold medal of the season.
“Last year was already a really good season, it was like a dream come true and I never expected this season to be better. I’m over the top, over the moon about my season this year. It’s been amazing,” said Sarah.
Top seed Linda Ochoa-Anderson lost to first-time finallist Sanne de Laat in the compound women’s bronze medal match.
The fourth stage of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup runs 8 to 13 August in Berlin, Germany.
