Colombian compound woman Sara Lopez beat Tanja Jensen from Denmark by seven points, 145-138, in the gold medal match at the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Rome, Italy to secure the champion title for the third time after winning in 2014 and 2015.
“I’m very happy. This is what I wanted. I was really relaxed and happy because I knew I had some points of advantage,” said Lopez, who shot perfect three 10s to close the final. “I wanted to finish that way, strong and confident, to show people I’m still shooting the way I’m used to.”
“This year has been difficult but I think this proves we’re at very good level in Colombia. I always wanted to be where I am right now.”
Sara beat Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yi-Hsuan, 146-141, and then Turkey’s Yesim Bostan, coming from behind to force a tie and then win the shoot-off to secure a gold medal match berth in the Stadio dei Marmi.
“It’s been a while since my last shoot-off, so I was very nervous because the last arrows were awful. There was a lot of wind and I didn’t know where to aim, but I aimed in the middle and expected that the arrow would land there,” said Lopez.
Drawn against world number nine Tanja Jensen in the final, the archer that snapped her incredible 31-match winning streak at stage two of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya, Lopez took the lead after the second end and never let her opponent get a foothold.
She won the match and her third title on the circuit, 145-138.
“I know my parents are watching me, they didn’t sleep. They’ve been awake since 4am [Colombian time] to watch me and this is for them. I always get as excited as the first time [I won] and I like this because many other archers lose [the excitement],” Lopez concluded.
Turkish compound woman Yesim Bostan, who finished fourth at the 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, beat world number one Sarah Sonnichsen to third place in 2017, 143-142.
The 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final takes place on 2/3 September in Rome, Italy.
