2 German mixed teams make world title finals

Germany’s compound mixed team – Kristina Heigenhauser and Marcel Trachsel – and recurve pair – Lisa Unruh and Florian Kahllund – will both contest gold medals and world champion titles at the 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Mexico City.

“We broke the curse! It’s been difficult for us to make the finals lately, but at this World Championships we’ve been shooting good and we’re just happy,” said Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Unruh.

Third-seeded Unruh and Kahllund beat both Malaysia and USA, in the first and second round, in shoot-offs. Then they met Great Britain’s Naomi Folkard and Patrick Huston in the semis, who they beat five set points to one.

The 15th seeded Brits ousted second-ranked Chinese Taipei and host Mexico to make the last four.

“Florian shot really good today and we complemented each other well,” added Lisa. “Personally, I didn’t expect anything because I put a lot of pressure on myself, so I just tried to enjoy my shooting and hoped my arrows landed in the middle.”

Germany will go for gold against defending champion Korea, represented by Im Dong Hyun and Kang Chae Young; Great Britain will shoot for bronze against Japan.

Kristina Heigenhauser, 2013 individual World Archery Champion, and Marcel Trachsel will also contest gold in the compound mixed team.

To secure their spot in the finals arena, the German pair beat Belgium and upset both first seed Denmark and fourth seed Italy by one point.

“It’s awesome!” said Marcel.

“We tried to do our best and aim in the middle and it worked,” Kristina added. “The goal is always to win, but everybody is able to hit and shoot the 10. We’ll see what happen.”

Kristina was Germany’s first and last outdoor World Champion when she won in Belek in 2013. West Germany also had a team gold in 1987 before the nation was unified.

The 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships run 15-22 October in Mexico City, Mexico.