Denmark’s Stephan Hansen arrives in Rome as the number one seed in the compound men’s competition. He’s also world number one and despite also being the reigning World Archery Champion, Hansen had never taken an individual Hyundai Archery World Cup gold medal before 2017, when he finally won in Shanghai.
He followed that with gold in the compound target archery event at the World Games in Wroclaw – as well as second-place finishes in Salt Lake City and Berlin.
So why has everything suddenly come together this year on the international circuit for the 22-year-old Danish archer?
“I had a really good indoor season, so I kind of had an idea that the outdoor season could be similar, because I was shooting good,” said Hansen.
“I started shooting some American competitions and I shot good, I felt fine, I was calm and I was testing and figuring things out. It’s going to sound arrogant, but I knew my level was good enough to win the World Cups, I just never had any good results in World Cups before.”
Stephan’s best result on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit prior to this season was a fourth place in Medellin in 2015.
“Last year I had good results for qualification, I was either first or second in all of them, averaged 712 I think. One match my release misfired, another I lost in a shootoff with a 147 to Reo Wilde. Another I lost by one point. It's just about the day. It was just a few small things were missing last year,” he explained.
“This year, my finals average was higher, and my scores have been consistently higher. I don't think I was unlucky, I just didn't shoot good enough.”
At stage four in Berlin, the last before this Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Rome, Hansen shot scores of 150, 149, 149 and 150 in head-to-head matchplay to get to the gold medal match.
“But I shot [terribly] in the final because I couldn’t control my trigger,” he said.
Hansen lost that match to Turkey’s Demir Elmaagacli, the 2015 Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion, who also qualified for Rome off the back of that podium performance.
“This time I'm going to shoot a back tension. I can always shoot a back tension. I never have problems with it – touch wood! It might not be quite as accurate, but it might just lose me one point, which will probably be enough,” confirmed Stephan.
“I became World Champion with a back tension, so I know I can shoot it fine. I wouldn't even know how to punch with it.”
“Probably shouldn't say that before a final!”
If Hansen makes it through his first match in Rome, against host wildcard Federico Pagnoni, he’ll face either Elmaagacli – again – or world number two Mike Schloesser.
“I'm not going to think that far ahead, because if you start thinking about the next one you will lose the first one,” said Hansen. “I'm going to take each final as it comes, each arrow as it comes. I'm going to shoot it up here first [points to head].”
“I like Mike a lot, we're good friends. It's a little early to shoot against him if it happens, we'd always prefer to do it in the final. But the first round is always the hardest, because it's easy to think too far ahead. It's easy to expect to win.”
“Today, I don't expect to win anything. I'm just going to go in there and do my best, and be proud of myself that I've done my best.”
The 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final takes place on 2/3 September in Rome, Italy.
