Collecting gold with the cadet women’s team, the junior women’s and men’s teams, and a silver in the mixed team, Mexico dominated compound team finals at the 2017 World Archery Youth Archery Championships in Rosario, Argentina.
Fernanda Garza, Sophia Sanfelice and Andrea Becerra collected the first crown by upsetting reigning cadet women’s team champion USA, 212-204.
“We’re all very happy because it’s something we all three have been working on hard a lot and it’s a really good result,” said Fernanda.
The Mexicans took the lead by one after the first six arrows, 50-49, before going three points down, 103-106, to Savannah Vanderwier, Breanna Theodore and Sachiko Keane. After scoring a 59-point set to the USA’s 53 in the third, the trio reclaimed the lead, 162-159.
A miss with the USA’s last arrow sentenced the match.
“We all knew we had the capacity of taking the gold against them,” said Sophia. Teammate Andrea added: “Having them as opponents motivated us to work even harder and stop their winning streak.”
The junior women’s team, of Esmeralda Sanchez, Fernanda Zepeda and Laura Perez, then took the field over Great Britain’s Isabelle Carpenter, Sarah Moon and Phoebe Pine.
After opening with a 53, against Great Britain’s 54, the Mexican girls came from behind and took the match by five, 219-214.
“Our crowd was awesome throughout match. We all have our parents and coaches that couldn’t came here back at home supporting us. It feels good because this is the reflection of what we’ve been doing to get this gold medal,” said world debutant Laura.
Fernanda Zepeda, who will shoot the seniors World Archery Championships on home soil in Mexico City, said: “It’s a great start ahead of the championships we’re having at home. We’ve doing a great job and there’s still more to go.”
The third gold for the Mexicans came from the junior men’s team Antonio Hidalgo, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Jose Elizondo. The trio, who beat Canada 225 to 215, dedicated the victory to their compatriots.
“Recently, Mexico has been through few natural disasters, so not just this medal but the others we have won, show our strength and what we can achieve when we work together. This is for all of us,” said Antonio.
Edgar Diaz and Andrea Becerra collected silver in the cadet mixed team final, losing to Turkey, 153-149.
The 2017 World Archery Youth Championships run 2 to 10 October in Rosario, Argentina.
