Beginners’ guide to the Beijing 2017 World Archery Para Championships

Every two years some of the best para athletes from across the globe contest the World Archery Para Championships. The 2017 edition of the tournament, the 11th on record, is taking place in a dedicated para sports centre on the outskirts of Beijing, built for the Games in 2008 and used as a training home and venue for para athletes from across the country.

One year removed from the Paralympics in Brazil, these worlds feature all six of the champions from those Games – along with another 200-plus athletes all aiming at claiming world titles in Beijing.

Factsheet: Beijing 2017

• Venue: China Administration for Sports for Persons with Disabilities (dedicated para sports centre), Beijing, China
• Dates: 12-17 September 2017
• Number of athletes: 246 (88 recurve – 118 compound – 40 W1)
• Categories: Recurve open (men’s, Women’s, Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Mixed team); Compound open (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Mixed team); W1 (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s Team, mixed team)

• Defending world Champions:
  • ERIC BENNETT, USA (not competing)
  • WU CHUNYAN, China; LEE OUK SOO, Korea
  • ELEONORA SARTI, Italy
  • DAVID DRAHONINSKY, Czech Republic
  • GUO YING, China (not competing)
• Paralympic Champions
  • GHOLAMREZA RAHIMI, Iran
  • ZAHRA NEMATI, Iran
  • ANDRE SHELBY, USA
  • ZHOU JIAMIN, China
  • JOHN WALKER, Great Britain
  • JESSICA STRETTON, Great Britain

Schedule

12 September: Official practice

13 September: Ranking round, early elimination for recurve open and compound men’s open categories

14 September: Ranking round, early elimination for compound women’s open and W1 categories; mixed team and team eliminations

15 September: Individual eliminations

16 September: Recurve open finals and W1 finals*

17 September: Compound open

*Schedule change implemented at start of competition.

Three things

1) Great Britain dominated the newly-introduced W1 categories at the Paralympic Games, winning all three women’s medals, the men’s title and the mixed team gold. One year removed, will the rest of the world caught up? 

2) An anticipated showdown between two-time Paralympic Champion Zahra Nemati and defending World Archery Para Champion Wu Chunyan is the draw of the recurve women’s open tournament. Wu has only one lost match on her resume – and that came to Nemati in the final in Rio.

3) Alberto Simonelli has been shooting the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit as part of Italy’s top national team in 2017. He’s one of a number of compound men shooting in Beijing capable of putting up truly elite scores. It’s poised to be probably the most competitive category at the tournament – especially the ranking round, when these world-class para athletes have a chance to really settle into a rhythm.

Categories

Read full explanations of the para archery competition categories.

Compound open: Compound open athletes usually have impairment in either the top or bottom halves of their body. They compete from a wheelchair, stool or standing using a standard compound bow.

Recurve open: Recurve open athletes usually have impairment in either the top or bottom halves of their body. They compete from a wheelchair, stool or standing using a standard recurve bow.

W1: Athletes have impairment in both the top and bottom of their bodies, compete while seated in a wheelchair and may shoot with either a recurve or compound bow – with slightly modified rules.

Athletes using recurve bows may also use mechanical release aids, while all bows are limited to 45lbs in peak draw weight and may not have peep sights, magnifying scopes or levelling bubbles.

How it works

Recurve open athletes shoot at 122cm targets set 70 metres away, with 10 scoring zones. Competition starts with a 72-arrow ranking round, used to seed athletes, and is followed by knock-out elimination matches resolved using the set system.

In set system matches, athletes shoot sets of three arrows. The highest-scoring athlete in each set receives two set points; both athletes receive one set point if the scores are tied. The first athlete to six set points wins the match. 

(Mixed teams shoot sets of four arrows, two per athlete, and the first mixed team to five set points wins the match. Teams shoot sets of six arrows, two per athlete, and the first team to five set points wins the match.)

Compound open and W1 athletes shoot at 80cm targets set 50 metres away, with 10 scoring zones (the outer four are removed for compound open competitors). Competition starts with a 72-arrow ranking round, used to seed athletes, and is followed by knock-out elimination matches resolved using cumulative score.

In cumulative score matches, athletes shoot 15 arrows in five ends of three, and the highest-scoring athlete wins the match. 

(Mixed teams shoot 16 arrows, in four ends of four arrows, two per athlete per end. Teams shoot 24 arrows, in four ends of six arrows, two per athlete per end.)

Favourites

The top three world ranked para athletes in each individual division as competition begins at Beijing 2017.

Recurve men open: 1. Gholamreza Rahimi, Iran; 2. Eric Bennett, USA (not competing); 3. Sergey Khutakov, Russia

Recurve women open: 1. Svetlana Barantseva, Russia; 2. Milena Olszewska, Poland; 3. Wu Chunyan, China

Compound men open: 1. Alberto Simonelli, Italy; 2. Andre Shelby, USA; 3. Lee Ouk Soo, Korea

Compound women open: 1. Eleonora Sarti, Italy; 2. Lin Yueshan, China; 3. Jane Karla Gogel, Brazil

W1 men: 1. David Drahoninsky, Czech Republic; 2. John Walker, Great Britain; 3. Uwe Herter, Germany

W1 women: 1. Jessica Stretton, Great Britain; 2. Jo Frith, Great Britain; 3. Kim Ok Geum, Korea

The 2017 World Archery Para Championships run 12-17 September in Beijing, China.