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Slovenian men win historic first team medal on international circuit

20 April 2023

Antalya, Türkiye

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Slovenia claimed a historic recurve men’s team bronze medal as the French women also secured their first podium of the year at the opening stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya.

The country had never won a team medal on the circuit and their best previous result was eighth – before Den Habjan Malavasic, Ziga Ravnikar and Miha Rozic rose to the occasion on Thursday morning in Türkiye.

Slovenia staged upset wins over Italy and France – the latter, 26-25, in a tiebreaker, to reach the latter stages of matchplay.

The squad succumbed in a straight-set loss to China in the semifinal but Ravnikar delivered a last-ditch 10 when it mattered to get the better of Dutch trio Gijs Broeksma, Senna Roos and Steve Wijler in a closely-contested bronze medal match.

“We shot really good,” said the Slovenian closer. “We’ve been working really hard the whole winter. During our team trials, we shot a lot of high scores and we knew we were ready. We’re happy we managed to win the bronze today and we’re looking forward to the next competitions.”

The medal meant all the more to Malavasic, who’s making his first appearance on the Hyundai Archery World Cup since becoming a father.

Fourth-placed Netherlands lost its semifinal to India, who will meet China in Sunday morning’s gold medal match.

France picked up where they left off last year to snag bronze in the recurve women’s team competition.

Former European Champion Lisa Barbelin led the squad to bronze at the fourth stage of last year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, when she was lined up alongside Anaëlle Florent and Lauréna Villard.

This time she was flanked by Audrey Adiceom and Caroline Lopez – but the result was the same.

Having edged out the USA, 27-25, in a tiebreaker in the second round, they bested European rivals Germany, 5-1, to reach the semis.

China proved too much at that stage, stopping the French in four sets, but Adiceom closed out victory in the bronze medal match by the same scoreline, 6-2, over a Spanish team of Elia Canales, Leyre Fernandez Infante and Irati Altuna Unamunzaga.

“We're so happy. We had some difficult matches because we ranked low in the qualification,” said Adiceom. The squad had seeded 12th. “We knew we had to shoot great but we stayed in our bubble. We tried to stay focused to shoot with quality. I’m so happy with how it worked.”

Barbelin added: “I can’t wait for the next competitions. It’s good also for the Olympics that will be held at home, in Paris.”

France made a major change at the beginning of last season, bringing in former Korean head coach Oh Seon Tek in an effort to produce heightened results at next summer’s Games. Results like this in Antalya are signs of positive progress.

Spain lost their semifinal to Mexico, who will meet China in Sunday’s gold medal match.

It was a tough morning for host nation Türkiye. Despite Olympic Champion Mete Gazoz topping yesterday’s individual qualifying, the recurve men’s team lost in the quarterfinals, while the women dropped out one phase earlier, in the second round.

Competition continues with compound eliminations on Thursday afternoon in Antalya.