Mike Schloesser books ticket to sixth Hyundai Archery World Cup Final

Mike Schloesser came within a shot of perfection on the way to the compound men’s title at the second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup hosted at the World Archery Excellence Centre in the Olympic capital of Lausanne, Switzerland.

“I am really happy about how I shot today,” Schloesser said. “The conditions were really tough. But I kept on shooting really strong shots, and it saved me some points.”

The reigning circuit champion defeated Italy’s Federico Pagnoni by four, shooting a 15-arrow match of 149 points in the final, on Saturday to secure a stage winner’s spot at the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in September. It will be his sixth consecutive appearance at the season-ending event since 2015. 

Mister Perfect shot a 148 in his semifinal against Mathias Fullerton and then lived up to his nickname for the first 14 arrows of the gold medal match, shooting nothing but 10s on a windy day in Lausanne.

Pagnoni did his best to apply pressure, matching Schloesser with perfect ends in the second and third, but he was unable to keep pace with the world number two as the match progressed.

Drawing his bow for the last arrow and needing just a six to win but a 10 to complete his perfect match, Schloesser just missed the 10-ring with a nine on the left. He didn’t throw it, he just didn’t manage to beat the conditions. It was an otherwise exemplary performance from the decorated archer, who has now won at least one stage of the circuit in each of the past five seasons. 

“I just kept on doing my thing,” Schloesser said. “I was so focused on making good shots that I didn’t know it was almost finished. I was like, ‘okay, just make a good shot’, and it was an okay shot.”

The top seed at this event with a qualifying score of 716, Schloesser dominated through the entire tournament on the way to his sixth individual gold medal on the international circuit.

Saturday’s result was an improvement on the silver medal from Guatemala City, where the Dutch archer lost to world number one Braden Gellenthien in the final. They are now the two archers with guaranteed spots at this year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, which will take place immediately after the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Yankton.

That’s a while away, though, while the European Championships start early next month, followed by the third stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup in Paris. Schloesser seems poised to continue the run of success he was on prior to the pandemic. 

“It was probably one of the strongest finals I’ve shot for a long time,” Schloesser said of Saturday’s decisive match. “The conditions were really tough, but I kept really strong, mentally and physically. I am really happy about all the work I’ve put in the past couple of weeks since Guatemala, and it’s paid off.”

Frenchman Adrien Gontier beat Mathias Fullerton of Denmark in the bronze medal match, 148-142. Both were making their debuts on the Hyundai Archery World Cup this week.

Competition continues in Lausanne with recurve finals on Sunday.