Lausanne, April 30, 2015: Over the past decade and thanks to the Archery World Cup, World Archery has seen the level of its international athletes increase as steadily as participation figures – and will hold its biggest World Archery Championships ever in the summer.
The outdoor archery season will get underway in spectacular fashion next week as millions of fans around the world prepare to tune in to watch the iconic city of Shanghai host the first stage of the 10th edition of the Archery World Cup.
Launched in 2006 to give the sport an annual international platform for its athletes to compete on, spectators to follow and keep archery in the media, the Archery World Cup has grown year on year.
After competition at stage one in Shanghai from 5-10 May, the 2015 Archery World Cup will move to Antalya in May, Wroclawin August, Medellin in September and Mexico City for the Archery World Cup Final on 24/25 October.
Each of the iconic locations, a trademark of the tour, provides a spectacular backdrop for the world’s best archery and a suitable place to celebrate the sport’s elegance.
“There is a real sense of excitement building ahead of this year‘s Archery World Cup season,” said World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur ERDENER.
“Every year brings something unique but this year is particularly special as it is the 10th anniversary of the Archery World Cup, a project we began in 2006 as part of our first Archery World Plan. That strategy, which aimed to make archery an important Olympic sport, was a resounding success.”
“Now in the second phase of our World Archery Plan, the Archery World Cup continues to be an integral part of our organisations efforts to grow the sport in our 156 member federations worldwide.”
The 2015 international archery season takes on added significance as the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen on 26 July – 2 August will act as the main qualifying tournament for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
To date, Copenhagen 2015 has received a record 647 preliminary entries, representing 94 nations – making it the largest World Archery Championships ever. The Torino 2011 worlds, which included the London 2012 Olympic primary quota tournament, had 562 athletes from 84 countries competing.
Prof Dr ERDENER said: “The start of the Road to Rio in Copenhagen is added motivation for our athletes over the course of 2015. As we continue to see more and more young talent coming into the sport, driving the level of our athletes up, the competition for Olympic quota places will be fierce.”
The increase in participation and standard of archery at the international level began to accelerate with the introduction of the annual elite competition circuit, the Archery World Cup. And after a decade, it is still growing.
“We are very proud of what we have achieved, particularly over the last 10 years, but we know we can do more. Continued innovation, new technologies and fine-tuning of our competition formats will ensure our sport remains surprising, relevant and attractive to fans.”
The 2015 Archery World Cup calendar:
Stage one – Shanghai (CHN), 5-10 May
Stage two – Antalya (TUR), 26-31 May
Stage three – Wroclaw (POL), 11-16 August
Stage four – Medellin (COL), 8-13 September
Final – Mexico City (MEX), 24-25 October. —- WA
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