Duenas speechless after taking Berlin bronze

Third seed Crispin Duenas defeated the 36th ranked archer in Berlin, Artem Makhnenko, in the recurve men’s bronze medal match at the fourth stage of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit, securing his first international outdoor podium finish since the worlds in Belek in 2013.

“I feel very happy with how I did today because I came here with a plan and I executed it. My plan was to make the podium, and I did it,” said Crispin. 

“I’ve been in a bronze medal match before in front of everybody, so I’m not foreign to the feeling of being the only person shooting on the field. Today it was my turn to win.”

Duenas and Makhnenko were drawn at 4-4 heading into the fifth set.

Canadian Crispin shot 28 points in the last set. After a 10 and a nine, his Russian opponent needed a 10 with his final arrow to win or a nine to force a shoot-off. But Makhnenko shot an eight.

Speechless at first, Crispin said: “I’m so happy. The score didn’t even matter to me. I just shot my shots and they landed in the middle.”

One of the longest tenured archers on the field, Crispin’s 15-year-long international career spans appearances at three Olympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio, and six world championships.

The fourth stage of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup runs 8 to 13 August in Berlin, Germany.