GELLENTHIEN bags second Indoor World Cup leg win in a row with perfect 150

Braden GELLENTHIEN qualified a respectable fifth in Bangkok yesterday before upping his game for the eliminations matches. The USA archer, who already had a lead in this year’s Indoor Archery World Cup rankings after winning the first stage in Marrakesh, scored a 149 average in Bangkok matchplay.

It was enough to see off three other States athletes in his first three matches and Dutch World Champion Mike SCHLOESSER in the semis.

“I got stronger throughout the weekend, and was ready for the finals when it mattered most,” GELLENTHIEN wrote on his Facebook page.

He crowned his run with a perfect 150 against another Dutchman, Peter ELZINGA, in the gold medal match. He took gold – and extended his lead at the head of the series’ points table.

Reigning outdoor Archery World Cup Champion, Bridger DEATON – also from the USA – took bronze. He beat SCHLOESSER in a one-arrow shoot-off after both scored 145 for the regulation 15 arrows.

Female States counterpart Erika JONES won the compound women’s event. In a final that pitted Lausanne 2014 silver medallist – JONES – against bronze medallist Natalia AVDEEVA, Erika emerged on top. She beat the Russian by a point, 146-145.

Bronze went to Thai local Maneesombaikul KANYAVEE. She knocked out World Field Champion Toja CERNE in the quarters.

Making their now-yearly arrival on the indoor scene known, Korean Team LH archers were strong in recurve women’s qualification and produced three of the four finalists.

JEON Sungeun, who has emerged as arguably the team’s number one indoor archery over the past two seasons, picked up another gold in Bangkok. She shot 20 sets in total at the event, 15 of them were perfect 30s. The rest: 29s.

She beat Marrakesh winner Berengere SCHUH 6-0 in the quarterfinals, teammate KIM Yu Mi in five in the semis – before a match-up with five-time Olympian Khatuna LORIG in for gold.

LORIG, another USA finalist, matched JEON in the first and last sets but the Korean shot 12 10s in a row to secure the win. KIM Yu Mi had bronze.

Khatuna was concise on her performance: “shot awesome.”

After an impressive, world-record-tying performance during qualification yesterday, BYEONGYEON Min had a rough second day in Bangkok. While we’re now used to seeing female professional Team LH shoot indoors, it’s the first time a male Korean staff squad has made an appearance on the circuit.

Hyundai Steel sent Min, Olympic Champion OH Jin Hyek and a host of other archers to shoot their first international indoor event.

Min got through his first round match by beating Marrakesh fourth-place finisher Frenchman Adrien LERICHE in a tiebreaker but was then soundly beaten by Hyundai teammate JIWAN Im.

Im simply shot better.

Meanwhile in the second round, second seeded Jin Hyek was taken to a tiebreaker by India’s Tarundeep RAI. OH was leading, shot three perfect sets and then ended with a 28 to permit the shoot-off.

Both archers shot linecutter 10s – but Tarundeep’s was closer and the Olympic Champ went out.

RAI wouldn’t make it much further but JIWAN Im did. He found himself in a gold medal match against Hyundai Steel teammate DONGHYUN Gye. The latter had qualified in sixth and beaten Frenchman Jean-Charles VALLADONT in a semifinal shoot-off.

The final went to a tiebreaker, too. Both Koreans were a little sloppy, trading set wins until the fifth – when they both shot 30 to keep things tied.

Gye – with OH behind him as his coach – shot his one-arrow decider first. He dropped his front arm and looked immediately dejected. It was a nine.

The door to victory wide open, JIWAN drilled a 10. He became he first Korean recurve man to win an Indoor Archery World Cup stage.

The bronze medal match was a replay of the Zagreb 2014 World Archery Field Championships final. It went the same way: the USA’s Brady ELLISON beat JC VALLADONT, 7-3.

Brady put one arrow out of the 10 in 15 shots.

See results, news and photos from the Bangkok 2014 Indoor Archery World Cup stage.