Russia names team to fill host country spots at 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final
World Archery Champion Natalia Avdeeva, Anton Bulaev, Sayana Tsyrempilova and Artem Makhnenko have been named as host nation invitees to the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Moscow, Russia.
Five Russian athletes will compete in total after Ksenia Perova qualified on points.
The host nation of the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final fills one of the eight spaces in each of the four competition categories. Russia’s additions this year are formidable.
Avdeeva, Bulaev, Tsyrempilova and Makhnenko are all currently ranked within the world’s top 20 in their respective categories. Both compound archers – Avdeeva and Bulaev – are in the top 10.
No archer representing the host country has won the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in its 13-year history.
It has been nearly a decade since a Russian archer took a gold medal at the season-ending event. Albina Loginova is the most recent, having won the compound women’s competition in Edinburgh in 2010.
Sofia Goncharova won the first edition in 2006 and Baljinima Tsyrempilov was the recurve men’s champion in 2007.
The first-round match-ups for the this year’s event will not be set until Wednesday 4 September. The two top-seeded athletes in each category are guaranteed to take opposite sides in the bracket with the rest of the positions drawn randomly.
Four more Russian athletes will compete in the two mixed team matches in Moscow.
Erdem Irdyneev and Elena Osipova are to face Korea in the recurve mixed team final. Elizaveta Knyazeva and Pavel Krylov will take on a pair representing the USA in the compound mixed team match.
Russia’s roster in Moscow
World rankings correct as of 17 July 2019.
Natalia Avdeeva (world rank: 7) – compound woman, host country invitation
The reigning world indoor and outdoor champion since beating Paige Pearce in the compound women’s gold medal match in ’s-Hertogenbosch in June, Avdeeva is a dangerous introduction to the roster in Moscow.
She only had one result on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in 2019, a ninth place in Antalya, but has repeatedly won big matches.
Moscow will be Natalia’s third appearance at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final. Her previous best result was third in Lausanne in 2014.
Ksenia Perova (world rank: 9) – recurve woman, points qualifier
Russia’s lone outright qualifier for the season-ending event, Perova made top-eight finishes at the stages two and three of the international tour in 2019. It looked like she’d be knocked out of the line-up after losing in the second round in Berlin. But after the bracket was done, Ksenia remained.
The 2017 World Archery Champion is well-known for not shooting the highest average arrow scores but still finding a way to win matches that matter.
Moscow will be Ksenia’s fourth appearance at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final. She was silver medallist in Rome in 2017.
Anton Bulaev (world rank: 10) – compound man, host country invitation
Recent winner of the 2019 Summer Universiade in Napoli, Bulaev only competed at the Antalya stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in 2019, finishing ninth.
He was a medal winner on the circuit in 2018, taking bronze in Antalya, and has the respect of his peers as reigning European Champion.
Moscow will be Anton’s debut at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.
Sayana Tsyrempilova (world rank: 15) – recurve woman, host country invitation
The highest-ranked of the Russian women behind qualifier Perova, Sayana made the first final of her career at the season’s third stage in Antalya.
She came second to China’s Zheng Yichai but accrued enough points to finish the year in the eighth position in the rankings. The seven archers above her all qualified – and now Sayana’s in as a host nation athlete, too.
Moscow will be Sayana’s debut at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.
Artem Makhnenko (world rank: 17) – recurve man, host country invitation
A career-best year in average arrow for Makhnenko, up to 9.24 points, did not result in a first career outdoor podium. But that looks imminent if the 23-year-old continues his upward trajectory.
Moscow will be Artem’s debut at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.
The 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final takes place on 6-7 September in Moscow, Russia.
