Quarterfinal draws decided for Hyundai Archery World Cup Final

The draw for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.

Featuring a collection of talent even more exclusive than the Olympics, the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final was always guaranteed to deliver an abundance of compelling match-ups.

Following Tuesday night’s draw to determine the brackets for the season-ending event, we now know who each archer will face in the first round in the arena, and the opening contest of three potential duels to secure a circuit trophy.

The historical quest to step ahead continues for Sara Lopez and Brady Ellison.

Each won their fifth Hyundai Archery World Champion trophy at the last edition of the season-ending tournament, held in Moscow in 2019. Both have a chance to secure a sixth this week.

Read on for the quarterfinal line-ups and some notes on our elite eights.

Compound women

  • Tanja Gellenthien, Denmark versus Natalia Avdeeva, Russia 
  • Toja Ellison, Slovenia versus Andrea Becerra, Mexico
  • Nora Valdez, Colombia versus Savannah Vanderwier, USA
  • Sara Lopez, Colombia versus Paige Pearce, USA

Will Lopez, who was just crowned world champion, win her sixth circuit title?

Top qualifier Gellenthien has a tough first-round match-up against former world champion Avdeeva…The second half of the bracket sees two matches between an archer from Colombia and the USA…Lopez and Jyothi Surekha Vennam became the first two women to shoot televised 150s during the world championships – will a similar level remain?…This line-up is really exciting.

Compound men

  • Mike Schloesser, Netherlands versus Adrien Gontier, France
  • Mathias Fullerton, Denmark versus Jozef Bosansky, Slovakia
  • Braden Gellenthien, USA versus Abhishek Verma, India
  • Kris Schaff, USA versus Federico Pagnoni, Italy

Can Mister Perfect maintain pace in the arena better than during the world championships?

This bracket is a tale of two halves – the top half has debutants Gontier and Fullerton, exciting if unproven, while the bottom features three former Hyundai Archery World Cup Champions…Gellenthien and Schloesser both arrive in Yankton with two circuit trophies, will either jumped ahead with a third?…This has been Fullerton’s break-out season…Bosansky has qualified for his second consecutive World Cup Final in a row, again with consistent placings rather than consistent podiums…Schaff is still recovering from a hand injury caused by a trampoline spring.

Recurve women

  • Deepika Kumari, India versus Svetlana Gomboeva, Russia
  • Elena Osipova, Russia versus Ana Vazquez, Mexico
  • Michelle Kroppen, Germany versus Casey Kaufhold, USA
  • Lisa Unruh, Germany versus Mackenzie Brown, USA

Is it finally time for Deepika Kumari to win a gold medal?

Kumari has four silvers and a bronze medal in seven career appearances at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final – eighth time’s the charm?…Both USA archers in this bracket, Kaufhold and Brown, have had recent major success – Kaufhold was runner-up at the worlds and Brown finished fourth at the Olympics…Osipova finished second in Tokyo in a shoot-off…All eight of these archers competed at the Games.

Recurve men

  • Brady Ellison, USA versus Mauro Nespoli, Italy
  • Atanu Das, India versus Maximilian Weckmueller, Germany
  • Jack Williams, USA versus Yun Sanchez, Spain
  • Mete Gazoz, Turkey versus Nicholas D’Amour, US Virgin Islands

Can Brady take his sixth trophy on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit?

Brady beat Mauro in the final of this event two years ago in Moscow to win his fifth trophy…Nespoli was the silver medallist at the Olympic Games…Olympic Champion (and wildcard for this tournament) Gazoz said he had four important events this year – and this was the fourth…D’Amour is the first archer from the US Virgin Islands to make, well, any major final and he did it with consistent finishes in 2021…The bottom half of this bracket is the future of the sport.

People