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Schloesser’s perfect matchplay secures second season win in Nimes

21 January 2024

Nimes, France

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Roy Dror, Elia Canales and Alejandra Usquiano collected career-first major indoor wins as world number one Mike Schloesser reasserted his dominance, winning his second event of the 2024 Indoor Archery World Series without dropping a point during matchplay in Nimes.

“Very stoked,” said the Dutchman, when asked for his feelings on the historic run. “I’m really proud of myself. I’ve worked hard for this. This is the biggest [indoor] event in Europe, and winning it means a lot to me.”

Schloesser has, by all accounts, become the first person to shoot five consecutive 150s at one international indoor event. And in the very same hall that, seven years ago, he shot the first perfect 600-point qualifying round.

“The French archery fans here are real fans, they like a great show and I hope I gave them that,” he continued.

The world number one beat James Lutz in the final, 150–148, after beating Nicolas Girard, Mathias Fullerton, Robin Jaatma, and Valerio Della Stua yesterday – although he also required a perfect shoot-off to knock out Fullerton, the top seed.

After a tense but clean first end, both Schloesser and Lutz settled.

But Mike was on point, delivering back-to-back inside-out 10s, while Lutz was lucky to get away with a few linecutters.

The luck didn’t last. A clear nine from Lutz on his second shot of the third end seemed to rattle the 2019 World Archery Champion – and it appeared he’d lost the match in his head as he sent down another nine with his third arrow of the fourth.

He was shaking his head as the 2013 World Archery Champion closed in on the win.

On a day in which archers from the Netherlands had delivered repeatedly, Quinty Roeffen dominating her gold medal match to take the Indoor Archery World Series Youth Champion title in the morning, defending senior circuit titleholder Steve Wijler had an opportunity to bag another Dutch win.

Enter Roy Dror of Israel. The curious top seed in the recurve men’s competition this weekend was series under 21 champion one year ago – but showed no sign of inexperience as he capitalised on a scrappy performance from Wijler.

The 18-year-old’s first two arrows were way out to the left – but he soon found the form that had put him in this position.

“It flew by really fast. I was a bit nervous in the beginning. But I got centred, and it came good. I didn’t hear the crowd, I just felt in my zone,” said Dror, who shot three consecutive 30s to close the match and take gold, 6-4.

World number one Marcus D’Almeida beat Patrick Huston to third.

Colombian archer Alejandra Usquiano collected the first indoor major of her career, beating Mexico’s Andrea Becerra, 146-143, in a clash of two well-known Latin American compound women far more used to the 50-metre range.

Becerra never looked comfortable in the unusual environment of the Nimes arena, dropping four points over the last two ends to hand Usquiano a maiden 18-metre victory.

Two-thirds of the recurve women’s podium went to German Olympic team medallists from Tokyo.

Charline Schwarz and Michelle Kroppen were relegated to second and third, however, by Spanish lefthander Elia Canales. Another youngster with Olympic hopes in 2024, Canales matches Schwarz’s closing pair of 30-point sets to force a tiebreak…

…then drill an inside-out 10 so good that she was smiling as it left the bow.

Schwarz shot a nine.

“It was really close. Charline shot amazing,” said Canales. “I did my best and it went well.”

But the performance of the weekend from any recurve women came during the youth event.

Quinty Roeffen didn’t just win her final, after taking early season wins in Lausanne and Strassen for a clean sweep of the European legs, she won it with three perfect sets of 30 points against Irati Unamunzaga Altuna. Roeffen is certainly a name to watch in senior competition in 2024.

Leo Sulik, Nicklas Bredal Bryld and Chloe Leroy also collected Indoor Archery World Series Youth Champion titles during the morning session.

The 18-metre season concludes with the Vegas Shoot and Indoor Archery World Series Finals on 2-4 February 2024.