Mister Perfect Finds His Groove in Ankara Eliminations

The second seeded compound man at the World Archery Indoor Championships, Mike Schloesser was back to the form that handed him the nickname Mister Perfect in the elimination stages of the competition.

“Yesterday I was a bit shaky, but lately I’m shooting way better than that. Today, it all fell together; a lot of 10s, a lot of inside-out 10s,” said Mike. “A 10 is always a good feeling. But an inside-outside 10 feels so good.”

Schloesser won his first two matches with perfect 150s, beating Muidh Rajah Albaqami and Jean Philippe Boulch, to set up a quarterfinal clash with Dutch teammate Peter Elzinga. Through two ends of that match, both Mike and Peter were perfect.

Peter blinked first, putting one arrow out of the middle in the third end while Mike remained clean for another six arrows. By the time the Flying Dutchman let one go wide in the closing shots, the match was done, 149-147.

Schloesser put down another 149 in a semifinal against Dejan Sitar, taking the win by a point, to make his second world title gold medal match. Mike won the outdoor title in 2013. He finished ninth at the previous world indoors, his only senior appearance at the event.

“I have a list, and this is still on my list – so I want to cross it off,” he said.

In the gold medal match, Schloesser faces French world number one Sebastien Peineau, who revealed he was going pro as of this championship week.

Peineau scored a perfect 150 in his semifinal match against surprise final four finisher Omid Taheri, from Iran.

“I’ve never shot 150 before in any match. This is my first 150 in matches ever,” he explained. “I’m so happy to shoot it in the semifinal.”

The Ankara gold medal match will be Peineau’s first world championships final.

“I had a really great feeling before coming here. I shot 595, that’s one of my best scores and the matches went perfectly,” added Seb. “This is the best start to my pro career I could have hoped for.”

Twenty-fifth seeded Taheri, who said he was focused on finishing the job he’d started, will face a tough contender for bronze in Sitar. The Slovenian archer won the outdoor World Archery Championships fifteen years ago, in Beijing in 2001. His performance in Ankara, he said, marked a return to form.

“One year ago I changed from a finger release to a back tension release. It took one year to learn how to shoot it, but I really like it. I’m very happy with the results,” Dejan explained.