The Turkish team made three medal matches at its home stage of the 2018 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya. Yesim Bostan won individual gold in the compound women’s event, her team finished fourth – and Olympians Yasemin Anagoz and Mete Gazoz took bronze in the recurve mixed team competition.
A successful tournament, by any measure.
For Anagoz and Gazoz it was a second consecutive podium and third consecutive final in the pairs competition, after taking silver – and losing to Korea in the final – in Shanghai, and finishing fourth in Berlin in 2017.
It was one spot on the podium down from China, but an event finished with a match victory, as the duo beat Chinese Taipei, 6-2, to third on the Antalya beach.
“We needed to get the feeling of winning. This is our home country and our parents, our friends, everybody was watching. Everyone believes in us,” said Anagoz.
“We needed to show how good we are and how we can win.”
Mete and Yasemin both made their Olympic debuts in Rio in 2016 at the age of 16. Two years on, they’ve continued to grow together, started to medal as a pair on the international circuit and are the perfect example of the kind of team that could contest the first mixed team medal at the next Olympic Games.
Over the last year, they’ve made mixed team finals at the junior worlds and three Hyundai Archery World Cup tournaments (Berlin, Shanghai and Antalya).
“We’ve been in the final every time. We trust each other and we believe we can succeed – and [in Antalya] we proved that we can win,” said Anagoz.
And winning hard match-ups is what these Turkish archers have had to do. In Antalya, they battled up to third from the 12th seed; in Shanghai it was a silver medal from the 15th seed and, in Berlin, fourth from rank 11.
She and Mete are training 10 hours a day, now together at the same camp; four days on, one day off.
“It can be long and boring, but if there’s a reason why we’re now winning, it’s that,” said Yasemin.
Whether it’s pure practice, some team chemistry or a little mixed team magic, something she and Mete are doing is, without a doubt, working.
The second stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup took place in Antalya, Turkey on 20-26 May.
