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Schloesser, Gibson through as World Games compound showdown builds in Chengdu

8 August 2025

Chengdu, China

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The compound competition at the Chengdu 2025 World Games shot down to the last eight in men’s and women’s individual at Qinglong Lake Park on Friday morning.

On the men’s side there were unexpectedly early exits for second seed Mathias Fullerton and third seed Nico Wiener, both at the hands of Turkish archers. Yagiz Sezgin edged Fullerton 146-145 in a match the Dane was leading before dropping two points in the last end, while Batuhan Akcaoglu beat Wiener 148-147 after a loose arrow from the Austrian in the third set.

Mike Schloesser continued his run to the final stages of the competition, beating 2024 Pan American Champion Sebastian Garcia of Mexico 147-145. This competition will be the first attended by Mike and Gaby Schloesser‘s daughter Luna, just a few months old.

“Archery is kind of in second place at the moment. My attention is on her rather than my bow,” Schloesser said. “Today was a tough day, I wasn’t shooting that good. I’m looking forward to catching my rhythm from yesterday in the finals tomorrow.”

“I feel like every event I go to I’m a medal contender, but I’ll give it my all tomorrow, and if it’s enough it’s enough.”

Both the USA’s compounders, Curtis Broadnax and Sawyer Sullivan made it to the last eight, with Broadnax needing a shoot-off to get past South Africa’s Hendre Verhoef.

“It was pretty kind of nerve wracking going into it, but I’m very thankful for how it turned out,” Broadnax said. “It could have been a lot worse, so I could have been on the losing side. So I’m very, very fortunate that I come across as a winner.”

In the women’s competition, the highest seed to exit was Mexico’s Mariana Bernal, the bronze medallist at this year’s World Cup in Florida, pushed out by India’s Parneet Kaur in a shoot-off.

Kaur’s teammate, third seed Madhura Dhamangaonkar, had a major let-off from a three point deficit after two ends to go through against Geesa Bybordy, after the Iranian shot a wild five in the third end.

Ella Gibson came through two matches to set up a huge quarterfinal clash with Mexico’s Andrea Becerra, shooting a statement 150 in her last-16 match to shut out Paralympic Champion Oznur Cure Girdi – the only perfect score in that round on either the men’s or women’s board.

Gibson stressed the need to adapt to the conditions.

“In the heat it moves it a lot more so I was happy to try and be smart and bold, and it really paid off,” she said. “The heat takes a lot more out of you. You just have to try and stay hydrated and try and keep to your pace and not rush yourself.”

“So I always make sure I don’t walk too fast, and I keep myself calm and try and keep my heart rate lower. And if I’m the last one at the target, that’s okay with me. They have to wait.”

Competition continues at the World Games with the compound individual finals on Saturday.