Mathias Fullerton takes fairytale World Cup victory
Mathias Fullerton took a dramatic Hyundai Archery World Cup victory in his third Final appearance in the Mexican city of Hermosillo.
He beat India’s Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar in a shoot-off to become the first Danish athlete since Martin Damsbo in 2013 to win the circuit’s overall title.
“It feels amazing, it’s crazy and it feels like I’m dreaming right now,” said the 20-year-old. “I’ve been hoping for this since I was a tiny little boy, so it’s very emotional.”
Fullerton has not been at his best in the Hyundai Archery World Cup this season. His match win percentage of 63% was the lowest in the compound men’s field arriving in Hermosillo.
This is a story of persistence and hard work as the young Dane stamped his authority on that field, never once behind in the scoring in the three matches he played to claim victory.
This was Fullerton’s first individual World Cup medal of any colour, coming on the biggest stage of them all at the tenth attempt.
“I feel like I’ve been losing a lot of matches like that this season, I’m so happy it was my time this time,” he said. “It will take a couple of weeks to sink in.”
“I’ve learned this season that things don’t always go your way and you don’t always have luck on your side. It will come if you wait and keep going.”
Fullerton beat Slovakia’s Jozef Bosansky, fresh from a breakout season, 146-144 in the quarterfinals and was dominant against Abhishek Verma of India in the semifinals with a perfect score of 150.
His opponent in the gold medal match, Jawkar, has made a big impression in his first season on the Hyundai Archery World Cup tour, winning gold at the second stage of the season in Shanghai having been seeded 33rd.
Fullerton led the battle of the 20-year-olds through the first three ends but his Indian rival shot a perfect fourth end to draw level and eventually force a shoot-off.
Jawkar’s tiebreaker shot was near perfect but not perfect enough to beat Fullerton, who nailed his effort for gold after it ended 148-148.
“In the end I started lacking a bit and I could feel it falling apart,” said Fullerton. “I just focused on every arrow and hoped for the best.”
“Jawkar shot an amazing X that would win 99 percent of matches. I had a little advantage on him this time, that’s how archery is.”
The compound men’s bronze medal went to world number one Mike Schloesser who had to live up to his nickname Mister Perfect to beat Verma on the score of 150-149.
Competition continues in Hermosillo with the recurve women’s and men’s finals Sunday evening.
Final ranking: Compound men
Mathias Fullerton, Denmark
Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar, India
Mike Schloesser, Netherlands- Abhishek Verma, India
Sawyer Sullivan, USA- James Lutz, USA
Jozef Bosansky, Slovakia
Miguel Becerra, Mexico
