Olympians Roman, Ellison take Versus MX titles

Images courtesy Versus MX Shoot 2017 organisers.

Olympic medallists Aida Roman and Brady Ellison took the recurve titles, Hyundai Archery World Cup Final runner-up Sarah Sonnichsen and 23-year-old Tate Morgan the compound, as the Versus MX Shoot opened the outdoor season with sun, scores and the impressive backdrop of the Zapopan Basilica.

The open tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico has become popular with some of the world’s best archers and the 2017 tournament, held 29 March to 2 April, attracted 157 competitors from nine countries.

Roman, Mexico’s most famous archer after finishing runner-up at the London 2012 Olympics, led recurve women’s qualification in the 3 de Marzo – a Guadalajara University soccer stadium – with 654 points, ahead of Mexican teammates Karla Hinojosa (630) and Alexa Rivera (616). Those seedings held true to the finish line as the three women took gold, silver and bronze.

“The competition was a bit complicated because of the wind. In all categories during both the semifinal and final matches, the scores were lower than during qualifications,” said Aida. “I shot well throughout the eliminations despite the wind being very irregular. I'm really happy with the result.”

Brady Ellison opened 2017 with another top qualification score, after an indoor season that saw him break the 18-metre world record twice.

Scoring 690 out of a possible 720 points for the 72-arrow round put him ahead of Mexicans Ernesto Boardman and Juan Rene Serrano, seeded second and third with 675 and 666, respectively. For the second year in a row, Ellison and Boardman disputed the recurve men’s final, which Brady won, 6-2.

Ivan Gonzalez took bronze.

“Started off the outdoor season on fire. I ended up in the gold medal match and shot an awesome match with Ernesto Boardman. I trailed most of it and was able to shoot 30-29 in the last two sets to come back and win. Looking forward to a good outdoor season,” said Brady on his Instagram page.

Sarah Sonnichsen, 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final silver medallist, was undefeated through the tournament week and collected gold in a final that saw her build a 14-point advantage over Fernanda Zepeda from Mexico, 141-127.

Tanja Jensen, reigning Indoor Archery World Cup champion, took bronze over the USA’s Dahlia Crook.

In the compound men’s gold medal match, 23-year-old Tate Morgan from the USA beat Mexico’s Julio Fierro, 141-136. Top seed Steve Anderson landed bronze. He had lost to Morgan in the semis by one, 140-139.

Decorated internationals Braden Gellenthien and Stephan Hansen, who seeded second and third over qualification, lost in the round-robin stage of 12.