News

Fatima Neri, Jang Yoojung shoot world-best scores to win World Series stage

20 January 2021

Up-and-coming Mexican compounder Fatima Neri and Korean recurve pro Jang Yoojung shot 60-arrow indoor rounds of 598 and 597 points to top the impressive scores posted during the third remote stage of the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series.

Both results were recorded at private 18-metre ranges. If they had been shot at registered competitions, both would have been world records.

“I’m proud of my score because I worked hard for it. I’m very happy because it’s a personal record,” said Jang, who is a member of the LH team in Seoul. “This was my second remote competition and it felt more comfortable than the first one. I was fascinated by the fact I could compete with archers around the world in their own ranges at the same time.”

Although the winner of the January event, the 29-year-old sits in the mid-100s in the circuit’s open ranking as archers are listed on the total of their best three results over the season. With this being the third event, she’s a whole round down on the current recurve women’s leader, France’s Lisa Barbelin, who has shot rounds of 582, 591 and 586 for a total of 1759 points.

Twenty-one-year-old Neri, an up-and-coming name in the Americas having faced Sara Lopez in the final of the continental online cup run during the autumn of 2020, said she surprised herself with the result.

“Two hours before the competition, I had a little accident and hit my head and arm,” she continued, adding that her coach encouraged her to keep shooting rather than pack up as he tracked the result. “I kept trying, each arrow shot an arrow forgotten. And then when I saw the result, I couldn’t believe it.”

Iranian archer Mina Moradi Vand, who has finished fourth in all three stages so far, current leads the compound women’s open ranking.

For the second consecutive stage, the barebow events were led by Swedish couple Erik Jonsson and Lina Bjorklund, with scores of 576 and 543 out of a possible 600 points. Neither totals are their best of the season – both of which came last month – but they were enough to win by five and one points, respectively.

Five-time World Archery Field Champion Jonsson is unbeaten on this new online circuit, having also won in November.

The pair leads the open rankings after three events.

Jonsson has a lead of 34 points on Italian archer Ferruccio Berti, who was second this stage with 571, and looks set to cruise to the circuit title. Bjorklund is 20 up on reigning World Games Champion Cinzia Noziglia, also from Italy.

World Archery Champion Brady Ellison matched his winning score of 598 points from December, winning again in January, but it’s London 2012 Olympic Champion Oh Jin Hyek, who has shot scores of 596, 597 and 597, who leads the recurve men’s open ranking.

Jean Philippe Boulch was the top compound man during this stage.

The French international dropped just one point over his 60 arrows, totalling 599, coming closest to matching Dave Cousins’s perfect score from last month’s remote event. Thirty-five archers in the category topped 590 points this month, matching the number from December.

An initial results list for the virtual stage is now available online however changes may still be made due to the ongoing process of assessing the submitted evidence and ratifying results.

Quick links

Results: January | Indoor Archery World Series Online
Rankings: Open (recurve, compound and barebow)
Rankings: Team (recurve and compound)
Register for February: OpenWAREOS

Papendal Invitational

Members of the Dutch Olympic squad welcomed visitors from Belgium to their national training centre for an invitational tournament to coincide with the third remote stage of the indoor circuit.

Gijs Broeksma and Laura van der Winkel impressed at the Papendal Invitational. The two junior members (in status, rather than age) of the squad delivered excellent finals, Gijs not missing the middle through four sets of a final against Steve Wijler and Laura shooting an under-pressure last 10 to dispatch Gaby Schloesser.

Read more about the results of the Papendal Invitational.

Continental

Scoring for the third stage of the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series was split into three geographical areas: the Americas, Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania. Here are the top results in each region.