Olympians Crispin Duenas, Aida Roman to contest Lockdown Knockout final

Canada’s Crispin Duenas and Mexican Olympic medallist Aida Roman will shoot in the Lockdown Knockout final after their respective victories over Steve Wijler and Gaby Bayardo in the remote semifinals on Friday.

This remote invitational tournament sees a man and a woman contest the title, with 1000 CHF and pride on the line.

Roman and Bayardo’s semi was originally scheduled for Thursday but delayed a day after storms in Mexico caused mobile phone service failure and led to connection issues. It was eventually held on Friday morning instead.

In the end, it was a one-sided affair and the first three-set victory of this competition.

Former World Archery Indoor Champion Roman – she was shooting outdoors but over the indoor distance of 18 metres – shot sets of 29, 30 and 29 points, each time edging out Bayardo. The pair were Mexican teammates at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games but Gaby has since relocated to the Netherlands.

“I feel so happy and thank you, Gaby, for giving me the chance [to compete] again, and to all the people that were helping me here. I’m excited and super happy to get this match,” said Aida.

Bayardo, who defeated Casey Kaufhold in the quarterfinal, said conditions played a big part in the defeat.

“When I was going to start shooting, there was a lot of wind and then through the three ends it was back and forth, and I think this was not the day to shoot outside,” she explained.

With Aida securing the first spot in the final, there was only a short wait to find out who would be joining her.

Duenas had won his quarterfinal match against Bernardo Oliveira by shooting 12 straight 10s. Wijler upset World Archery Champion Brady Ellison by shooting two 12s – the unique rule added for this event – and scoring even higher.

Their semifinal was a thriller.

They were both perfect through two sets, shooting nothing but 10s and sharing the set points. Crispin dropped a nine in the third and Steve drew ahead, 4-2.

In the fourth, the Dutchman shot his first nine and had an attempt at the 12 with his last arrow. It went wide and right – and Crispin levelled the match.

Duenas put in another 30 in the fifth. Wijler shot two 10s – but his last arrow landed left and a little low, just a millimetre out of the 10-ring. That tiny measurement made the difference. The match went to the Canadian archer, 6-4.

“I’m really happy with how I shot, really impressed with what Steve and Brady showed us in their first match, that was truly amazing. And the women have been shooting really, really awesome as well,” said Crispin.

Wijler was effusive with praise.

“Crispin shot great and he shot a really nice match against me and I think he will do the best he can in the final and I wish him all the luck,” said Steve.

“I shot the one which was barely, barely out, it was like half a millimetre. Then I missed the 12 and I was like… I need to shoot a 30 now. And I really wanted to shoot a 30 but I wasn’t capable of doing it.”

Crispin and Aida will shoot the final on Sunday 21 June. It will be streamed live across World Archery’s platforms at 17h00 CET. The winner of the Lockdown Knockout will receive 1000 CHF and runner-up 500 CHF in prize money.