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D’Almeida and Nespoli to battle for second stage victory in 2023

18 August 2023

Paris, France

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Marcus D’Almeida and Mauro Nespoli will both battle for a second Hyundai Archery World Cup stage victory while there will be a new winner in the recurve women’s competition in 2023.

Shanghai winner D’Almeida and Medellin victor Nespoli reached the final four at the fourth World Cup stage in Paris alongside Korean duo Lee Woo Seok and Kim Woojin after an intense afternoon of eliminations.

Third seed Casey Kaufhold leads the way in the women’s final four, where she will be joined by Lisa Barbelin, Hai Ligan and Choi Misun in Sunday’s finals in the finals venue at Les Invalides, which will host the 2024 Games.

Two-time stage winner this season and top seed Lim Sihyeon lost to Hai in the third round, while Penny Healey, the only other stage winner still in contention, lost to Dimitra Papadopoulou at the same stage, meaning there will be a new women’s winner in Paris.

World number one D’Almeida opened his account on Friday with a clear victory over Jack Williams before edging past Li Zhongyuan despite letting a 4-0 lead slip.

The Brazilian then responded in style with another straight-set win over Berkay Akkoyun before sealing his spot in the last four by defeating local favourite Baptiste Addis.

“I’m feeling good,” said D'Almeida, who won the 2022 edition of the event. “I’m in the final again in Paris; let’s see.”

He will take on Lee for a place in the gold medal match, after the Korean top seed powered his way through his four matches without losing a set.

The 26-year-old beat Ivan Kozhokar 7-1 before getting past Andres Temino 6-0 and Qi Xiangshuo 7-1 to set up a quarterfinal contest with world silver medallist Eric Peters.

But Lee proved too strong on this occasion, winning two sets and drawing the other two to take him to the necessary six set points.

The other semifinal sees Olympic silver medallist Nespoli take on defending World Cup Champion Kim Woojin.

The Italian battled his way to the last four, requiring two shoot-offs to get past Dutch pair Gijs Broeksma and Steve Wijler before beating Kim Je Deok in the last eight.

“I am very happy,” said Nespoli. “I shot very strong today. I was not so confident at the beginning of the day, but during lunchtime I reset my mind.”

“I'm very satisfied about my shooting. I’ll take some rest tomorrow and on Sunday, I'll be a new archer.”

He will face Woojin, who was also forced to sweat for his place, beating Federico Musolesi after a shoot-off and then beating Den Habjan Malavasic and Felix Wieser.

But the Korean found his best form in the last eight, downing Jean-Charles Valladont in straight sets to keep his hopes of a 2023 Hyundai World Cup stage victory alive despite being less than satisfied with his performance.

“I don’t think I was good enough to shoot too many matches today,” he said. “Even if I won the matches, I am not 100% satisfied with my performance. I will try better for the finals.”

Nespoli, D’Almeida and Dan Olaru have all already sealed their places in the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Hermosillo, while results in Paris mean Lee Woo Seok, Brady Ellison and Dhiraj Bommadevara are also guaranteed a place on points.

Lee and Kim Woojin can both seal their places outright as stage winners with victory on Sunday, with a win for Woojin also ensuring qualification for compatriot Kim Je Deok.

Woojin can also qualify with a podium finish should D’Almeida or Nespoli take victory in Paris.

With top two seeds Lim Sihyeon and Alejandra Valencia exiting in the third round, USA’s Kaufhold is the highest seed remaining in the women’s competition.

Kaufhold won her opening three matches all by a 6-2 scoreline before battling past 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final bronze medallist Peng Chia-Mao 6-5 in the quarterfinals following a shoot-off.

She will face Korea’s Choi Misun in the last four, after the 2022 World Cup silver medallist beat Anastasia Pavlova in a straight-sets quarterfinal having battled past Li Jiaman and Ankita Bhakat.

“I am definitely really excited to shoot on the finals stage,” said Kaufhold. “That was kind of my goal coming to this tournament, I just want to get experience on that stage.”

“I don't care if it's women's team, mixed team or individual, I just want to shoot on it. So, to make it to the final individually, I'm super happy.”

Lisa Barbelin made final four at home stage.

Hai beat both Lim Sihyeon and reigning Olympic Champion An San en route to the last four, while Barbelin beat the third member of the Korean recurve women’s team Kang Chae Young in her quarterfinal.

The Chinese archer beat Ana Maria Rendon in a tie-break before getting past Lim, and then beat Tomomi Sugimoto in straight sets to set up a quarterfinal with An which she won 6-2.

Barbelin beat Ines de Velasco and followed that up with a 6-0 victory over Leyre Infante Fernandez but was made to sweat getting through a shoot-off against Mengyao Zhang, before beating Kang to seal her place in the last four.

“I feel really, really great,” said Barbelin. “All my matches were really, really good so I'm quite proud of today.”

“My hard work will pay off now. It's really big. I'm really proud and really thankful of my team and my coach because without them, I cannot be here.”

Lim Sihyeon and Penny Healey have already sealed their place at the Final in Hermosillo, and will be joined by Peng Chia-Mao and An Qixuan who qualify on points with four more places to be decided.