ROME, Italy - At last year's Archery World Cup Final, Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) became the first archer in history to win the event four times. He has competed at every Final since 2010 and has podiumed at all but one- an absolutely incredible feat.
Ellison entered this year's Final ranked 3rd after winning individual silver in Antalya and mixed team bronzes in Salt Lake City and Berlin. However, he also held the highest arrow average of anyone on the field for the season, shooting 9.44 points per match arrow.
Ellison faced Taipei's Wei Chen-Heng and took an early 2-0 lead up one point in the first set. In the second set, he loosed one arrow outside of the gold and Wei took the set for a 2-2 tie. Wei's 29 outshot Ellison's 28 in the next set, but as Ellison continued with another two 28s, Wei only put up 26s and Ellison took the match 6-4.
Ellison opened his semifinal match with Olympic Champion Im Dong Hyun with a 9 to Im's 10. He then found the middle and the two matched arrow for arrow for the next 7 shots, bringing the score to 3-1. With Ellison on the board after two sets, Ellison's 9th arrow sprung strait to the 10, while Im's was a 9 and the score went 3-3.
Needing a 10 with his final arrow of the fourth set to take the round to 5-3, Ellison was not ready to give up another shot at the champion title and he pierced the center of the target. Then with three arrows in the X, Ellison solidified the victory to advance to the gold final. Feeling confident, Ellison already started motioning 5 to the cameras, ready for his fifth circuit win.
Olympic Champion and current world record holder Kim Woojin opened the gold final with Ellison with more success finding the 10-ring and he took the set 2-0. Woojin took a 4-0 lead in the next set to turn on the pressure. Then with a perfect 30, Woojin closed out the match with the win.
Ellison's next shot at an international champion title will be the World Archery Championships in Mexico City in the middle of next month. Complete results from this event are available at www.worldarchery.org. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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