Sarah Prieels scored 595 out of a possible 600 points to match the 18-metre 60-arrow ranking round world record and lead compound women’s qualification at the opening event of the 2019 Indoor Archery World Series in Strassen, Luxembourg.
Braden Gellenthien, new cadet world record holder Casey Kaufhold, and Steve Wijler – who tied on points with Cedric Rieger – also took top seedings.
“Obviously, I’ll be a little frustrated. You’re never really happy unless it’s a perfect score,” said Prieels.
“I’m quite happy about it, being the first big shoot of the season and dropping only five points. Hopefully it’s going to be a good start and I’ll have another shot at breaking the world record soon.”
The 595-point compound women’s world record was set by Erika Jones in 2014.
Braden Gellenthien dropped just three points to finish ahead of a talented compound men’s field. The world number three was one up on Dutch pair Peter Elzinga and world ranking leader Mike Schloesser, who both had 596 points.
A balanced effort from Cedric Rieger, who shot two halves of 297 points, was almost enough to take pole in the recurve men’s competition.
But world number two Steve Wijler shot a blistering back straight and dropped just one point in 30 arrows to match Rieger’s 594 and take the top spot in a coin toss.
“I expected high scores on top,” said Rieger. “I knew there was Steve Wijler, Patrick Huston, Rick van der Ven and many others, and I know what they can do. But I also know what I am capable of.”
The first-session score of 589 points from 14-year-old Casey Kaufhold, which was ratified as a new cadet world record, held strong to lead all recurve women in Strassen.
Only the top-32 qualifiers advance to matchplay at indoor tournaments. The recurve men’s cut was at 562 points, recurve women’s at 522, compound men’s at 586 and compound women’s at 560.
All four top seeds survived the first round of eliminations shot on Saturday evening.
However, recent winner of the Kings of Archery Series: JVD Open and number four compound men’s seed Paul Tedford did not, upset by a perfect 15-arrow match from 29th-ranked David Etienne.
Competition in Strassen continues with the remaining elimination matches on Sunday. The medal matches will be streamed live on World Archery platforms from 15h00 local time.
The GT Open is the first stage of the 2019 Indoor Archery World Series.
