Preview: Inclement weather in store for the 230-plus headed to Lausanne

The second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup was originally supposed to take place in its traditional venue in Shanghai, but it had to be moved to the Olympic capital of Lausanne – which is also where World Archery and the international circuit are headquartered – in Switzerland due to ongoing travel restrictions.

It will now be hosted at the World Archery Excellence Centre.

Four more tickets for this year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, which was recently announced to be taking place just after the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Yankton, are available this week.

It’s exceptionally cold for May in Switzerland. And it’s expected to rain every day of the tournament.

At the start of a run of important events in Europe – first this, then the Europeans and finally the third stage of the circuit in Paris (with the latter two being Olympic qualifiers) – who will be best prepared for the conditions? The weather adds another dynamic to an international season full of intrigue, importance and implications for the upcoming Games in Tokyo.

Key information

What’s happening? The second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup on 18-23 May in Lausanne, Switzerland.

What’s at stake? Stage winners automatically book a ticket for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in September.

What’s the story? The rain is coming. Weather is a challenge, and next week’s weather looks challenging. How will the elements affect the natural order of play, and who is arriving in Lausanne most ready to deal with the rain?

Event schedule

• Tuesday 18 May: Qualification
• Wednesday 19 May: Eliminations
• Thursday 20 May: Eliminations
• Friday 21 May: Team eliminations
• Saturday 22 May: Compound finals
• Sunday 23 May: Recurve finals

How to watch

Coverage of the second stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup is being shown worldwide by broadcast partners. The following sessions are being streamed on World Archery’s YouTube channel and via the Olympic Channel in certain territories. 

• Live: Compound team finals – 22 May, starting at 10h00 UTC+2 (local)
• Live: Compound final fours – 22 May, starting at 14h00 UTC+2 (local)
• Live: Recurve team finals – 23 May, starting at 10h00 UTC+2 (local)
• Live: Recurve final fours – 23 May, starting at 14h00 UTC+2 (local)

Live scores will be available on the World Archery website, and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.

The venue

The World Archery Excellence Centre opened in late 2016 as a purpose-built hub for the sport. It has hosted a number of smaller international tournaments, including a live event for this past season’s remote Indoor Archery World Series and the first World Archery Masters Championships back in 2018.

But this is its biggest event to date.

Qualification and eliminations will take place on sports fields located next to the venue, while the finals field will be constructed on the right side of the Centre’s main outdoor range.

Some teams are staying on to train after the competition is over. 

Final tracker

The following archers are qualified for the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Yankton:

• Recurve men: Atanu Das, India (stage winner)
• Recurve women: Deepika Kumari, India (stage winner)
• Compound men: Braden Gellenthien, USA (stage winner)
• Compound women: Nora Valdez, Colombia (stage winner)

Who’s competing?

These were the winners of the second stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai:

• Recurve men: Lee Woo Seok, Korea (not competing)
• Recurve women: Kang Chae Young, Korea (not competing)
• Compound men: Braden Gellenthien, USA
• Compound women: So Chaewon, Korea (not competing)

These were the winners of the European stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya:

• Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA
• Recurve women: Zheng Yichai, China (not competing)
• Compound men: James Lutz, USA
• Compound women: Danelle Wentzel, South Africa (not competing)

These are the top-ranked archers competing in Lausanne:

• Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA (world rank: 1)
• Recurve women: Ksenia Perova, Russia (world rank: 9)
• Compound men: Braden Gellenthien, USA (world rank: 1)
• Compound women: Alexis Ruiz, USA (world rank: 1)

A total of 234 archers from the national teams of the following 35 countries are registered for this tournament: Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Moldova, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA and the US Virgin Islands.

Competition at the second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Lausanne starts with qualification on Tuesday.