Recap: Lopez, Ellison win record fifth Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion titles
The international archery season came to a close at the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final. Thirty-two of the world’s best athletes took to the arena next to Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 6-7 September.
Archers qualified for the event by winning stages in Medellin, Shanghai, Antalya and Berlin or by collecting ranking points across the year.
The competition brackets were decided in the evening of 4 September with positions drawn randomly for the second year in a row. The draw took place in GUM, a famous department store on Red Square.
Colombia’s Sara Lopez and Brady Ellison each went on to win a record fifth Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion crown.
Winners
- Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA
- Recurve women: Kang Chae Young, Korea
- Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands
- Compound women: Sara Lopez, Colombia
On compound Friday, Lopez beat World Archery Champion Natalia Avdeeva of Russia, 149-139, to take the women’s gold in Moscow and claim an historic fifth Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion title.
Dutch world number two Mike Schloesser defeated world number one Braden Gellenthien of the USA, 147-144, to take the compound men’s crown.
On the second day of competition, world number one Kang Chae Young beat Chinese Taipei’s Tan Ya-Ting, 6-4, to win the recurve women’s gold medal in Moscow at her World Cup Final debut.
Brady Ellison won his fifth Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion title with a 6-2 victory over Mauro Nespoli. It completed an incredible season where he became world champion, broke the 70-metre ranking round world record and rose to the top spot in the world rankings.
Other news
USA compounders Braden Gellenthien and Alexis Ruiz won the 2019 Longines Prize for Precision awards after shooting 442 and 409 10s in qualification and individual matchplay across the Hyundai Archery World Cup season.
It is the first time since 2019 that archers from four different countries have won the circuit titles.
Lopez has competed at six of the last seven Hyundai Archery World Cup Finals, winning five of them. Brady made his 10th-straight appearance at the event in Moscow. His record is five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Quote of the event
Mike Schloesser on his last and winning arrow of the gold medal match hitting the eight: “The thing is, usually when I lead I make it difficult for myself and it’s just stupid. But it happens and I’m working on it. For example, the [semifinal] match against Anton [Bulaev], I knew I needed to shoot a 10 to win and I did it, and I did it in a good fashion. So I’m happy with that one. I just need to work on that one, get confidence out of that one and do it more often.”
Next season
The Hyundai Archery World Cup will return in 2020 for its 15th season. It has already been confirmed that the three stages will take place in Guatemala City, Shanghai and Berlin. (The circuit usually shortens to three legs in Olympic years.)
Berlin will also act as the final qualification tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. No host for the 2020 Hyundai Archery World cup Final has yet been announced.
The 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final took place on 6-7 September in Moscow, Russia.
