Top seeds Kang and Ellison shine in the Shanghai rain
Korea’s Kang Chae Young and USA’s Brady Ellison took the top individual seeds as torrential rain blighted recurve qualifying at the second stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China.
The archers battled constant rainfall in a three-hour qualifying session that some would rather forget.
“It was a very bad day for me,” said Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, who sunk to 25th with a score of 646. “I couldn’t understand the conditions – rainy and windy.”
“Today is not the best day of my life, but it wasn’t the worst day either. It will be much better on Friday.”
Top seed Ellison snatched the lead from China’s Wang Dapeng in the closing stages, leading qualifying with a score of 670. Impressive, in the circumstances.
“In conditions like these, it’s about shooting the best shot you can and adjust quickly,” said Ellison. “I made a few mistakes at the end but otherwise, it was great.”
The American is searching for a first Hyundai Archery World Cup medal since Antalya 2022.
Among those standing in his way will be Brazil’s Marcus D’Almeida, who recovered from a slow start to shoot a high score of 338 in the second half of the session.
“I tried to focus on my body, stay in the rain and not escape the rain,” said D’Almeida. “I wanted to feel the rain to shoot consistently.”
The women did a better job than the men at adapting to conditions. Kang Chae Young topped the pile with 671, just higher than Ellison’s effort.
The men’s field were bunched together but veteran Kang was clearly the class of the women’s field, shooting 11 points more than Peng Chia-Mao in second place.
“I was trying to shoot like at practice,” said Kang. “I wasn’t affected much with the conditions as I focused on my strengths and tried to give my best.”
Powerhouses Korea commanded women’s qualifying.
Three of the top four spots went to Korean archers, with Choi Misun third on 653 and Olympic champion An San a point behind in fourth.
It was a confident return to the circuit for Korea’s women, who last competed internationally seven months ago at the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.
“I am excited to be back in competitions and I was nervous,” said An San. “But because of the rain, I didn’t think much about my nerves. It was hectic.”
“Apart from the score, I didn’t like my shooting form. I didn’t give up until the end, so it’s good and I will now focus on the eliminations.”
Action continues in Shanghai tomorrow with recurve team and compound individual eliminations.
Top seeds: Recurve men
- Brady Ellison, USA – 670 (8 circuit ranking points)
- Marcus D'Almeida, Brazil – 669 (7 points)
- Lee Woo Seok, Korea – 667 (6 points)
- Wang Dapeng, PR China – 665 (5 points)
- Mauro Nespoli, Italy – 661 (4 points)
- Li Zhongyuan, PR China – 660 30 10s 9 Xs (3 points)
- Tang Chih-Chu, Chinese Taipei – 660 24 10s 11 Xs (3 points)
- Kim Je Deok, Korea – 658 (1 point)
Top seeds: Recuve women
- Kang Chae Young, Korea – 671 (8 circuit ranking points)
- Peng Chia-Mao, Chinese Taipiei – 660 (7 points)
- Choi Misun, Korea – 653 (6 points)
- An San, Korea – 652 25 10s 9 Xs (5 points)
- Lei Chien-Ying, Chinese Taipei – 652 23 10s 4 Xs (5 points)
- Penny Healey, Great Britain – 651 (3 points)
- Tomomi Sugimoto, Japan – 650 (2 points)
- Simranjeet Kaur, India – 648 26 10s 8 Xs (1 point)
- Marie Horackova, Czech Republic – 648 26 10s 8 Xs (1 point)
- Lim Sihyeon, Korea – 648 21 10s 7 Xs (1 point)
