Italy wins two bronze as first team medals awarded in Lausanne

Marco Bruno, Federico Pagnoni and Sergio Pagni won in a nail-biter in the rain over the USA’s Braden Gellenthien, Kris Schaff and James Lutz to give Italy the bronze medal in the compound men’s team event at the second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Series in Lausanne.

It was one of two third-places finishes for the Italian teams on Friday morning. France and Russia also collected team medals.

Italy’s second bronze was in the recurve men’s team event, after Mauro Nespoli, Alessandro Paoli and Federico Musolesi defeated Sjef Van Den Berg, Steve Wijler and Rick van der Ven of the Netherlands.

With Pagnoni into the individual final four, the Italian compounders’ return to the international circuit can certainly be called a success.

“We are very happy because we re-entered competition with a medal,” said the veteran of the squad, Pagni. “We have quite a brand-new team, and we hope to attend the world championships [together]. Obviously, winning a tight match against the USA means the level of our team is very high.”

Italy trailed the USA, 59-57, after the first set before tying the match, 117-117, in the second. The score remained level after the third and fourth ends, resulting in a tiebreak that ultimately resulted in an Italian victory.

“The shoot-off was interesting. I shot as the last one, so I knew I needed a 10 or X to close the match," Pagni said. "Federico started with an X, but Marco dropped a nine. And the USA had three 10-liners."

“We really didn’t know if shooting another 10 would be enough.”

It was – and Italy dealt the usually dominant USA compound men an even more disappointing result than in Guatemala City, where they finished third.

Drama mostly eluded the other three matches, as Italy beat the Netherlands convincingly, 5-1, in a recurve men’s team bronze medal match that was less competitive than their top seeds would suggest. It was an encouraging showing from one squad with podium aspirations later this summer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, less so from the other. 

“We are very happy. It’s a good chance to test the team before the quota tournament,” Nespoli said. “It’s very important that we shoot so well. I think we will go to Tokyo with our team to get a medal.”

Svetlana Gomboeva, who’s into the recurve women’s final four alongside former World Archery Champion and compatriot Ksenia Perova on Sunday, joined Russian teammates Elena Osipova and Inna Stepanova to defeat France’s Lisa Barbelin, Angeline Cohendet and Melanie Gaubil in the recurve women’s team bronze medal match, 6-2.

“I am so delighted that I got an opportunity to be part of the team at this event,” Gomboeva said. “I always believed in myself but I am very happy that I made both semifinals individually and took third place with my team.”

Tied after one set, 56-56, the compound women’s event was close until Iran suffered a technical issue in the second end, resulting in a quick 12-point deficit. A French trio of Sophie Dodemont, Renaudin Tiphaine and Lola Grandjean held the lead from there, defeating Seyedeh-Vida Halimianavval, Geesa Bybordy and Farsi Raheleh, 229-221

“We are really happy. We are not used to competing in the team event – my teammates are very young,” Dodemont said. “It’s kind of a new experience for us, so it’s great to get bronze here.”

The compound team gold medal matches will run on Saturday and feature men’s squads representing the Netherlands and Turkey, alongside women’s teams from the USA and Russia.

The recurve finals on Sunday will see Italy and Mexico contest the women’s team gold and the Spanish men in their second consecutive title match, this time against Germany.