Olympic silver medallist Unruh confident in fourth-seeded German women
For elite recurve archers around the world, the first few days of the competition week at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships is focused on teams.
Over women’s qualification – just behind the Asian titans of Korea, China and Chinese Taipei – Germany’s Lisa Unruh, Elena Richter and Michelle Kroppen placed a strong fourth.
It was a back-to-form showing from a team that has had a mixed start to 2019. None of the German recurve teams has made a finals field on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit so far this year.
Fourth gives the German women a bye into the second round and a match – against either Mexico or Iran – that will award three Olympic quota places.
Unruh, the senior hand and team anchor, was buoyant about the qualification result.
“My season was not the best start for me. So I’m, yeah, I’m excited because it’s getting better and better and, I can feel my strength, my heart coming back,” he said.
With teams doing final tune-ups all over Europe, Germany remained at their – admittedly close – home base.
“We’ve been keeping it normal. Just training together and practising team rounds. We probably shot 1000 arrows last week. Was that normal? We taper down a little, of course. Just a little break,” she said.
The fourth-place team ranking is also an improvement on the seventh seeding from the world championships in Copenhagen in 2015. That tournament saw them lose, 5-3, to India in the critical Olympic qualification match.
Unruh and Richter were on that team. Along with the (still reigning but retired) European Games Champion Karina Winter.
Eventually, just Unruh and Florian Floto would end up at the Olympics in Rio - but Unruh would go on to take an individual silver medal at those Games.
“Yes, I have some hard memories of Copenhagen of course, but it doesn't matter for me because we are here and this is a new world championships,” she said.
“It’s a new year and a new team, and we will go out there and shoot.”
The 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships take place on 10-16 June in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
