Dutch win second team bronze in 24 hours as Chinese Taipei also medals

The first stage of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya has delivered its second set of medals with the Netherlands and Chinese Taipei recurve men’s and women’s teams claiming bronzes earlier today.

Rick van der Ven, Steve Wijler and Gijs Broeksma took home the second third place in two days for the Dutch in Turkey, after the nation’s compound men secured a podium spot yesterday.

“It was a bit of a struggle but it’s awesome to win a medal,” said Broeksma. “We went in a bit too sweet, but we found the right switch and came back strong. In the end, it was really good and it gives off a great message.”

“It’s a great way to start the season,” he added about the double podium to start the event. “It’s good to see the work that both teams have been putting in is paying off so we’re happy.”

The Duch group first saw off Australia (6-2) and then Indonesia in a tiebreak, 28-24, before losing a semifinal to second seed Chinese Taipei (2-6). The team in orange then lost the first set against Ukraine in the bronze medal match, which is contested on the eliminations field, but powered through to take the following three (6-2).

Broeksma was keen to highlight the efforts of his opponents from Ukraine in the medal match.

“I was incredibly impressed with how they shot,” he said. “Making a top four in a World Cup is incredibly hard and they did that despite everything going on at home. We have nothing but respect for them.”

Jonah Wilthagen, who finished above Broeksma in the individual seedings and contributed to their third seeding (qualifying with a combined 1990 points) spot going into the competition, was replaced in the team for competition by Broeksma, who is part of the core trio of Dutch recurve men this season.

In the recurve women’s team event, the Chinese Taipei squad continued its impressive return to international action after a nearly three-year break due to the global pandemic.

After having archers seed top in both the men’s and women’s individual recurve events yesterday, the Taipei recurve teams both secured podium finishes. The men will contest gold later in the week, while the recurve women showed their mental strength to defeat Italy in a shoot-off for third.

The second-seeded side – consisting of Hyundai Archery World Cup debutant Kuo Tzu Ying, former world champion Lei Chien-Ying and top individual qualifier Peng Chia-Mao – had byes through the first two rounds. They then defeated Uzbekistan in straight sets before overcoming Poland in a tiebreak, 28-25. 

A second consecutive shoot-off wouldn’t fall in their favour as the Taipei team was eliminated to Great Britain, 29-28, in the semifinals.

“Shoot-offs don’t happen that frequently in international competition, so we are kind of happy to have these types of experiences that we can learn from,” said Lei Chien-Ying, fresh off the team’s three consecutive matches that went to tiebreaks.

“We can learn from these for future events and take it into the next competition. We haven’t been at international tournaments for a long time so we need some time to adjust, get used to the field again and feel the level of the international competitions again.”

The recurve men’s team final between Italy and Chinese Taipei and the recurve women’s team final between Great Britain and Germany will take place on Sunday morning in Antalya’s temporary archery arena, built for this event next to Konyaalti beach. 

Competition in Antalya continues this afternoon with compound eliminations.

Team results: Antalya 2022

Results as of Thursday 21 April. The gold medal matches are scheduled for Sunday 24 April.

Recurve men

• Gold medal match: Italy versus Chinese Taipei
• Bronze medal match: Netherlands 6 – 2 Ukraine

Recurve women

• Gold medal match: Germany versus Great Britain
• Bronze medal match: Italy (25) 4 – 5 (29) Chinese Taipei