News

Schlosser shoots clean – 120 arrows – to make Taipei gold medal match

9 December 2023

Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei

Real name:

Mike Schloesser has yet to drop a single point in competition at the Taipei Open, shooting four 150s in four matches after a perfect 600-point qualification round to set up a final with India’s Prathamesh Jawkar on Sunday.

No archer has ever won an event on the indoor circuit without dropping a single point.

If Schloesser goes clean in the final tomorrow – assuming there‘s not a crazy perfect shoot-off finale (two 150s and Jawkar with a better tiebreak 10) – he will become the first archer in history to do so.

“I’m super happy [with] how I shot the last two days. So far we’re good. I feel mentally very strong,” he said.

“I know [Prathamesh] is a good shooter, so it’s gonna be a tough match tomorrow and it’s gonna be cool. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll just keep on going, do the same thing, because that's been working the last two days.”

Jawkar is not an easy match-up in the finale. He has already beaten Mike outdoors twice this year, and on the biggest stages – in the gold medal match at the Shanghai stage of the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup and in the semifinal of the subsequent Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Hermosillo.

Both victories required nerveless final arrows, and the 20-year-old from India has proved he has the mettle to deliver.

The recurve finals at the NTSE Arena in Taoyuan will feature all-Taipei line-ups.

Tang Chih-Chun, the 2020 Olympic team silver medallist and top qualifier here will face compatriot Tai Yu-Hsuan, a world youth champion from 2019, in the recurve men’s final.

Former outdoor world champion Lei Chien-Ying, meanwhile, has drawn 19-year-old Su Hsin-Yu in the recurve women’s gold medal match – after surviving two shoot-offs.

“I have confidence in overcoming myself,” said Lei. “I want to say to everyone that participating here brings me joy and honour, and I hope that both myself and everyone else can feel the joy of competition.”

Now 33 years old, Lei is somewhat of a latecomer to indoor competition – this is her first appearance on the 18-metre circuit… ever – but is taking to the format fast.

“I learned quite a bit in this competition. Ways to adjust my mindset, ways to talk to myself. I will carry these things into tomorrow’s gold medal match and apply them,” she said.

India’s world champion teammates Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Parneet Kaur, who each edged out the top Taipei archers Huang I-Jou and Chen Yi-Hsuan in their respective semifinals, will contest the compound women’s final.

Competition concludes tomorrow with finals in Taipei. Watch the under-21 and senior medal matches live on archery+.