Yildiz to defend European title against Schloesser in Munich
Turkish compound man Yakup Yildiz will defend his continental title at the 2022 European Championships in Munich as the sold remaining titleholder left in the competition. He will face world number one Mike Schloesser in the final on Saturday.
Isabelle Carpenter and Sophie Dodemont will shoot for compound women’s gold, while both recurve finals feature archers from the host nation. Florian Unruh has in-form Spaniard Miguel Alvarino Garcia while Michelle Kroppen takes on Gulnaz Coskun of Turkey, both with chances to secure European titles on home soil for Germany.
Yildiz beat Mathias Fullerton to take an unexpected gold at home in Antalya last year.
“I just want to prove myself and show everyone that it was not a surprise, that I’m good enough to win again,” said the 19-year-old, who saw off Jozef Bosansky in a semifinal tiebreak. “It’s an exciting competition for me and I’m in the final again which is so exciting for me. This is an important competition. I hope I can win and bring a gold medal to my country again.”
As decorated as he is, Schloesser had never won an individual medal at a European Championships. He’s already secured silver.
“The Europeans have never been high on my list because, for me, a World Cup or a World Championship has been higher,” explained the Dutchman who started his day with an uncharacteristic 143-point match but then shot 148, 148 and 149 to progress to the final. “But still, it’s something on my list to tick off and I’ve been working on it so I’m looking forward to the final on Saturday.”
Yildiz and Schloesser will face off once earlier in the day, during the compound men’s team final, after Turkey delivered a perfect semifinal tiebreak to overcome Austria and towering world champion Nico Wiener.
Bosansky will play Estonia’s Robin Jaatma for compound men’s bronze with Jaatma, who is the only compounder in Munich so far to shoot a perfect 150.
Florian Unruh celebrates making the recurve men’s gold medal match at the Europeans.
The arrows that booked Michele Kroppen into the recurve women’s final in Munich.
Kroppen is congratulated by Elia Canales of Spain for making the final.
The German team celebrates two recurve women in the final four.
Sophie Dodemont, always a threat, will shoot for the European title at the age of 48.
Miguel Alvarino is the hot hand, having podiumed at both Hyundai Archery World Cup stages so far this year.
Thursday marked a successful day for the German home team with its recurves now set to shoot in four of five finals this Sunday.
After securing his place in the men’s individual final thanks to a win over Olympic Champion Mete Gazoz (6-4) in the semifinal, Florian Unruh will have a tough match-up against hot hand Miguel Alvarino in the final.
“It doesn’t change that much whether he’s an Olympic Champion or not,” said Unruh of defeating Gazoz in the eliminations. “I’ve known him for a long time and have often shot against him. It reminds me a little of 2014, when we won silver in the team and I won gold in the individual.”
Alvarino, who saw off teammate Danny Castro in his semi, qualified second to Unruh’s first this week in Munich. The third Spanish recurver, defending European Champion Pablo Acha, went out in a last-16 tiebreak against Moritz Wieser.
Together, Alvarino, Castro and Acha will also shoot for recurve men’s team gold against Italy.
Recurve women’s number one seed Michelle Kroppen will shoot for three golds on home soil in Munich, following her progression through to the mixed team final yesterday and recurve women’s team final earlier today. She beat her own teammate, Katharina Bauer, in the semifinals (6-4) to tee up a final against the sixth seed, Gulnaz Coskun.
“It's a shame as I would have preferred to meet Kathi [Bauer] in the gold final,” said Kroppen. “We told each other before that we wanted to enjoy the match and it was a high-quality one. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for her and hope that we'll be on the podium together afterwards.”
Kroppen and Coskun will also face each other in the recurve women’s team final as well as the individual, with Turkey having conceded only two set points during the eliminations to Germany’s one.
Recurve women’s defending champion Lisa Barbelin went out in the eliminations to Randi Degn.
The top two seeds in the compound women’s event, Tanja Gellenthien and Ella Gibson, who also shot in the final of these championships one year ago, also dropped out early. Gellenthien was eliminated by eventual finalist Dodemont in the quarterfinals, 142-134, after the Dane hit her trigger accidentally as she was letting her bow down.
The arrow landed over the three-metre reshoot line and was recorded as a miss. She was consoled by teammates and her opponent after leaving the line.
At the same time, Gibson was eliminated by Elisa Roner, 147-146, teeing up her teammate Isabel Carpenter – Izzy – to take revenge in the very next phase.
Carpenter beat the Italian by four points, 146-142, to book her first major international final.
The European titles will be decided this weekend in Munich. Compound finals are set to take place on Saturday, followed by recurve finals on Sunday.
Individual medal matches: Munich 2022
The compound medal matches are scheduled for Saturday 11 June and the recurve medal matches are scheduled for Sunday 12 June. Qualification seed is given in brackets.
Compound men
- Gold medal match: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (1) versus Yakup Yildiz, Turkey (10)
- Bronze medal match: Robin Jaatma, Estonia (4) versus Jozef Bosansky, Slovakia (11)
Compound women
- Gold medal match: Isabelle Carpenter, Great Britain (28) versus Sophie Dodemont, France (7)
- Bronze medal match: Elisa Roner, Italy (9) versus Ayse Bera Suzer, Turkey (11)
Recurve men
- Gold medal match: Florian Unruh, Germany (1) versus Miguel Alvarino Garcia, Spain (2)
- Bronze medal match: Mete Gazoz, Turkey (4) versus Daniel Castro, Spain (3)
Recurve women
- Gold medal match: Michelle Kroppen, Germany (1) versus Gulnaz Coskun, Turkey (6)
- Bronze medal match: Katharina Bauer, Germany (5) versus Elisabeth Straka, Austria (39)
Team medal matches: Munich 2022
The compound medal matches are scheduled for Saturday 11 June and the recurve medal matches are scheduled for Sunday 12 June. Qualification seed is given in brackets.
Compound men
- Gold medal match: Netherlands (12) versus Turkey (2)
- Bronze medal match: Slovenia (9) versus Austria (3)
Compound women
- Gold medal match: Italy (4) versus Great Britain (2)
- Bronze medal match: Turkey (1) versus Estonia (6)
Recurve men
- Gold medal match: Spain (1) versus Italy (3)
- Bronze medal match: Switzerland (4) versus Great Britain (10)
Recurve women
- Gold medal match: Germany (1) versus Turkey (3)
- Bronze medal match: Slovenia (13) versus Denmark (10)
