BANGKOK, Thailand - U.S. archers scored big in Bangkok, taking three of four top seeds in qualification and finishing up with five medals, including two gold courtesy of Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) and Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho).
Ellison scored a near impossible 597 out of 600 points in qualification, tying a 14-year old record held by Michelle Frangili of Italy. "For quite a while I haven't been training indoors as much as I did this year, and I feel really good," Ellison told World Archery. "Today I tied the world record for the fourth time, and I feel confident it's going to be mine not too long from now."
Heading into eliminations, Ellison kept the momentum and great shooting to breeze his way into the semifinals where he rematched Luis Alvarez of Mexico. Alvarez had been victorious when the pair went head to head in the Pan American Games this past summer, but this time Ellison was victorious with a 6-4 win.
He advanced to the gold final with Korea's Olympic Champion Oh Jin Hyek. Three straight sets of 30 gave Ellison the 5-1 advantage and he easily sealed the win. "It's a good start to the season and I'm in good form," Ellison shared with World Archery. "I shot well the whole tournament and I'm happy to have won a final again. I hope to keep it up through the indoor season and, of course, continue shooting well during 2016."
Lexi Keller (Omro, Wisconsin) topped the compound women's qualification with a 7-point gap over Crystal Gauvin (Dayville, Connecticut) and Slovenia's Toja Cerne, who tied with 577s. Keller and Gauvin both conceded semifinal losses to shoot head to head for bronze. Gauvin clinched the bronze with a 146-141 win over her teammate.
Kristopher Schaff (Billings, Montana) took the compound men's top seed, just ahead of Wilde and Bridger Deaton (Pella, Iowa). U.S. underdogs in the brackets were not to be counted out. Logan Wilde (West Jordan, Utah), seeded 9th, upset Schaff in the quarterfinals with a 146-146 tied match and a win in a one-arrow shoot off. Matt Sullivan (Park City, Utah) who had been ranked 12th, also upset Deaton in the quarterfinals in a shoot off after tying on 146s.
Logan Wilde and Sullivan then went head to head in the semifinals, with Sullivan taking the win 147-146. Reo Wilde breezed through his matches with safe margins until a close match with Mike Schloesser, in which each archer only dropped one point, including perfect 10s in the shoot off, but Wilde's was closer to the center and took the win. Reo Wilde again only dropped a single point in the gold final against teammate Sullivan to take the World Cup title 149-145. Sweeping the podium for the U.S., Logan Wilde also posted a win in another close match and shoot off victory.
Complete results from the event can be found here. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Some information attributed to World Archery Communication.
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