USA team break compound men’s world record in Antalya

The USA compound men’s team broke the qualifying world record as Demark’s Mathias Fullerton (717) and India’s Jyothi Surekha Vennam (713) took the top individual seeds on the opening day of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya, Türkiye.

Shooting in perfect conditions, Vennam’s score matched the women’s record and Fullerton’s was one point off the men’s, too.

Sawyer Sullivan, who came in second on 715, led the US men’s charge, ably supported by Braden Gellenthien (713) and former world champion James Lutz (712). The trio combined for 2140 out of a possible 2160 points, breaking the previous record by three.

“We’re really happy,” Gellenthien said. “It’s something you never plan on doing when you come to the field, but we all did great today. The weather agreed with us and we were able to put out a great score.”

Unusually for this field – which is mere metres from the Mediterranean coast – there was almost no wind.

Vennam took advantage, matching Sara Lopez’s world record score of 713 from 2015, and coming in two points ahead of Dafne Quintero, whose 711 was a career best.

Seven-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion Sara Lopez seeded third on 710 and current world number one Ella Gibson had 707 for fourth.

Mathias Fullerton was three millimetres away from breaking the individual world record.

All three of his arrows that missed the middle – he only had three – came in the last three ends, and none was further than a millimetre from the line. The first dropped left, the second left and the third low and right. 

“I've been practising hard the last few months so I feel like it paid off,” said the 19-year-old, who’s currently ranked sixth in the world. “[The record] was in the back of my head some of the time, but I was thinking, ‘just do what you do best, shoot arrows and see where they land’. I got a little bit nervous, and I just missed.”

“That’s the game, that’s the hard part.”

It is the first time since before the pandemic that someone other than Mike Schloesser has qualified top in the compound men’s event at a stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup. Mister Perfect’s 714 was good enough only for fourth.

Behind Fullerton and Lutz were Roberto Hernandez, Emircan Haney and Marco Bruno – all tied on 715.

A phenomenal 49 compound men – and 15 women – broke 700. That’s 42% of the field.

Colombian world champions Lopez and Daniel Munoz seeded top in the compound mixed team event, while Vennam’s India took pole in the compound women’s team competition.

Action continues on Wednesday with compound team eliminations and recurve qualification.

Top seeds: Compound men

1. Mathias Fullerton, Denmark – 717 (8 circuit ranking points)
2. Sawyer Sullivan, USA – 715 67 10s 39 Xs (7 points)
3. Roberto Hernandez, El Salvador – 715 67 10s 36 Xs (7 points)
4. Emircan Haney, Türkiye – 715 67 10s 35 Xs (7 points)
5. Marco Bruno, Italy – 715 67 10s 33 Xs (7 points)
6. Mike Schloesser, Netherlands – 714 68 10s (3 points)
7. Daniel Munoz, Colombia – 714 66 10s 37 Xs (3 points)
8. Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki, Malaysia – 714 66 10s 32 Xs (3 points)

Top seeds: Compound women

1. Jyothi Surekha Vennam, India – 713 (8 circuit ranking points)
2. Dafne Quintero, Mexico – 711 (7 points)
3. Sara Lopez, Colombia – 710 (6 points)
4. Ella Gibson,  Great Britain – 707 (5 points)
5. Meeri-Marita Paas, Estonia – 706 (4 points)
6. Mariya Shkolna, Luxembourg – 704 57 10s (3 points)
7. Andrea Munoz, Spain – 704 56 10s (3 points)
8. Alejandra Usquiano, Colombia – 703 55 10s 23 Xs (1 point)
9. Tanja Gellenthien, Denmark – 703 55 10s 23 Xs (1 point)
10. Sophie Dodemont, France – 703 55 10s 20 Xs (1 point)