LIMERICK, Ireland – With the weekend beckoning, Team USA now sets its collective sights on the individual portion of the World Archery Youth Championships, departing the team rounds with six medals.
Friday was shy on silverware but the recurve teams in both men and women at U18 and U21 level continued to impress. The highlight was undoubtedly a last 16 win over second seeds India for the U21 men of Benjamin Hur, Landon Richardson and Dylan Soong. The trio fell to France in the quarterfinals.
The U18 men also suffered a quarterfinal defeat. Having beaten Poland 5-1 in the last 16, Joshua Baek, Pierce McAdam and Christian Stoddard walked into an in-form India as their medal charge was halted.
Earlier, the U21 women of Catalina GNoriega, Casey Kaufhold and Emma Kim lost 5-3 to Poland, with the U18 women of Cham Chung, Gabrielle Sasai, Riley Tateyama edged out by Ukraine after a shoot-off.
The recurve archers will have time to ready themselves for their individual elimination matches, which take place on Sunday, the final day of the event.
Benjamin Hur faces Riley Spencer-Nice of Great Britain in the recurve U21 men. Victory in that encounter could set up a meeting with teammate Dylan Soong in the next round. Soong faces Maksymilian Osuch of Poland. The other member of the recurve U21 men, Landon Richardson, takes on Kwun Pok Lucien Law of Hong Kong.
In the recurve U21 women’s category, Casey Kaufhold, as top seed in qualification, gets a bye direct to the last 32, where she will face either Olha Shubkina (UKR) or Salome Kharshiladze (GEO). There’s the potential for a last 16 clash with close friend and teammate Catalina GNoriega. GNoriega must first overcome one of Lucia Ibáñez Romero (ESP) or Nuala Edmundson (NZL).
Like GNoriega, Emma Kim also has a bye until the last 32, where she will go against Klaudia Plaza of Poland.
Joshua Baek already had to win through one elimination match in the recurve U18 men, defeating Han Qian Wong of Singapore 7-1 on Tuesday. Christian Stoddard, the 12th seed, will start versus Bohdan Ilyin (UKR), with Pierce McAdam taking on Yuval Lankri (ISR).
Riley Tateyama, like Baek, already has one elimination round win under her belt. She resumes on Sunday against 10th seed Yijing Bao from China. Teammate Cham Chung seeks to overcome Anna Kolodziejczyk (POL), with Gabrielle Sasai meeting Melina Koepper (GER).
The weekend begins with individual elimination in the compound division. Matches are as follows:
U21 Men
Isaac Sullivan vs. Simon Mosen (SWE)
Sawyer Sullivan vs. Kolby Boutilier (CAN) or Istvan Csernak (HUN)
Nathan Wilken vs. Wei Wu Z (TPE)
U21 Women
Carson Krahe vs. Pui Ying Theres Choi (Hong Kong)
Makenna Proctor vs. Anna Maria Alfredsdottir (ISL)
Sydney Sullenberger vs. Paula Diaz Morillas (ESP) or Fang Yi Chen (TPE)
U18 Men
Landyn Cox vs. Cian Clarke
Dewey Hathaway vs. Riley Warwa (CAN) or Xes Arguelles Presa (ESP)
Grady Kane vs. Rafael Magalhães Moreira (BRA)
U18 Women
Liko Arreola vs. Isabella Bruguier (GBR)
Olivia Dean vs. Jordyn PoloWaniuk (POL)
Leann Drake vs. Emilie Holmstrup (DEN)
Though chatty and smiling away from the line, this talented group of USA archers have their game faces on when with bow in hand. Make no mistake, this team will be business-like when the weekend comes around.
Latest scores, schedules, brackets and results are available for the World Archery Youth Championships. There will also be daily photo galleries from Ireland.
