Images courtesy Versus MX Shoot 2018.
Steve Anderson beat Dutch archer Mike Schloesser in a one-arrow shoot-off in the compound men’s final at the Versus MX Shoot 2018 held in Guadalajara, Mexico on 21-25 March – to finish a dramatic tournament. Tied after 15 arrows at 145 points apiece, Steve shot a 10 to Mike’s nine in the deciding tiebreaker.
“I wouldn’t say that either of us shot our best match, or felt satisfied with the performance. But, there were pieces of the match that I felt good about and I can build around that,” said Steve.
"Shooting against a shooter as accomplished as Mike in the final always helps me gain experience. The more often I put myself in pressure situations, the better I get.”
The Versus MX Shoot, popular among Mexican archers and some of the world’s best that travel from abroad, consists of qualification, a round-robin format group stage, elimination and final phases.
Steve shot around 400 arrows for score over three days in an event he said he considers more of a tournament-based training camp, and six of his 21 matches were perfect 150s – which bagged him $20 USD in prize money each time.
“I think I averaged somewhere around 148 for the whole tournament. Six of those matches were perfect 150s, and a few 149s. I had a couple of matches that weren’t so great, as well, and it showed me where there is work to be done,” he explained.
It’s now on to national selections and the opening of the 2018 Hyundai Archery World Cup season: “I just want to show up to each tournament prepared enough and confident enough that I can be competitive to win.
World number one Sarah Sonnichsen took compound women’s gold at Versus MX 2018; Slovenia’s Ana Umer and Andres Aguilar from Chile the recurve titles.
The Versus MX Shoot 2018 took place on 21-25 March in Guadalajara, Mexico.
