10 takeaways: Qualification at Salt Lake City 2017

Even until the closing ends of recurve qualification in Salt Lake City, it looked like we might be on for a world record. It wasn’t to be, but Chang Hye Jin’s 683 was still exceptional given the increasing wind.

Here’s our quick guide to results from qualification at the stage three of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup.

1. Top seeds

Recurve men: Im Dong Hyun, Korea (680); Wei Chun-Heng, Chinese Taipei (679); Kim Woojin, Korea (679)

Recurve women: Chang Hye Jin, Korea (683); Ki Bo Bae, Korea (673); Tan Ya-Ting, Chinese Taipei (666)

Compound men: Reo Wilde, USA (704); Kim Jongho, Korea (704); Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (703)

Compound women: Sarah Sonnichsen, Denmark (699); Andrea Marcos, Spain (694); Sara Lopez, Colombia (692)

2. Field score

Although the day started still, an increasing wind only got trickier as the minutes ticked away.

“Over 700 [points] in this [wind] is pretty tough,” said top compound man Reo, who had 703. “You just have to be in the right place at the right time and guess where it was gonna break. It was a lot of work to watch the flags.”

Defending Hyundai Archery World Cup Final Champion Mike Schloesser said he didn’t expect such a change in direction and that, although the wind got stronger towards the end of the compound round, it also got more consistent.

That’s why, Mister Perfect explained, his back 36 arrows (355) was better than his first 36 (348).

3. Equipment priorities

There was rumour that top recurve man Im Dong Hyun was shooting a low poundage bow, but he said it was “medium”, and Chang Hye Jin – who was top scoring woman, higher than Im – revealed that her draweight was just 38lbs.

More important than having poundage in the wind?

“Your arrows must be tuned perfectly to your bow. That is the most critical thing,” said Im – who also said although he “had” to be happy with taking pole, he had more to work on during the week ahead.

4. No frustration

“I’m not really at ease today. I didn’t sleep really good, didn’t eat really good, feeling unsettled,” said former world number one PJ Deloche. But he wasn’t frustrated.

“It’s the way international competitions can go, so it’s okay. Today is not a really good day for me, so my shooting is okay.”

At the halfway point, Deloche sat in 30th – but a strong second half dragged him up to 16th.

5. Wind technique

Sarah Sonnichsen, the Dane who picked up three gold medals including her first ever stage win in Antalya, makes no secret of the fact she considers herself something of a “puncher”. 

(Someone who consciously clicks the trigger on a release.)

“The wind is really weird but it’s constant, so I tried not to fight it too much – and my technique is, like, perfect for this weather,” said the top-ranked compound woman. 

“I don’t work as much with my release hand. I just go up, see where I’m supposed to shoot and shoot. I think my technique is helping me a lot in this weather.”

6. Top teams:

Recurve men: Korea (2032); Italy (1995); Chinese Taipei (1983)

Recurve women: Korea (2018); Chinese Taipei (1959); Mexico (1924)

Compound men: USA (2100); Korea (2085); Denmark (2080)

Compound women: Korea (2067); Mexico (2040); USA (2027)

7. 3 worth watching

Sarah Prieels, Belgium: Finished third in Shanghai. Seeded 10th, finished sixth in Antalya. Came in seventh over the Salt Lake compound women’s ranking round.

Vietnam recurve women: Seeded ninth ahead of teams like Colombia, Georgia and India.

Sultan Duzelbayev, Kazakhstan: Four more points would have gotten a member of our new favourite underdog team into the top eight. Following two consecutive gold medal match appearances for the Kazakhstan recurve men’s team, is it time for an individual to shine?

8. Perfect record

At Hyundai Archery World Cup stages on home soil, the USA’s compound men’s squad has never not won gold. Odgen – about 45 minutes down the highway from Salt Lake – hosted a leg in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and the hosts won all three.

In 2016, the States won two stages – but they have yet to climb to the top step on the podium yet in 2017.

Taking pole: A good start, if the team is to have a chance of defending that perfect home record.

9. Top pairs

Recurve: Korea (1363); Chinese Taipei (1345); USA (1322)

Compound: Denmark (1398); Korea (1395); Colombia (1389)

10. Post-Rio

Brazil’s compound men ranked 10th as a trio. One of the three in the team – Roberval Dos Santos – actually started the round with a perfect 60, topping the first leaderboard of the afternoon and then coming in 10th at the end.

Another, Marcelo Roriz Jr, actually worked in the sports show presentation department at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“I said to the team, I like very much to work on the event – but I love to be here shooting,” he said, grinning. “We’re going to try and get results, and then hopefully we’ll get more support and be able to stay travelling as a team.”

The third stage of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup runs 20 to 25 June in Salt Lake City, USA.