Perfect score for WILDE!

On the Shanghai riverside Reo WILDE (USA) shot a perfect 150 in his compound men’s final. He also won a team gold and came back strongly in the Longines Prize for Precision. Jamie VAN NATTA won in Compound Women.

At World Cup Stage 4 in Shanghai, the compound finals were contested on Saturday afternoon on the River Boulevard, Pudong Shanghai. All the compound finals are shot with cumulative score: out of 15 arrows for the individuals, 16 arrows for the mixed teams and 24 arrows for the teams.

Here is a recap of our live commentaries.

Compound Men Individual

Gold – Dietmar TRILLUS (CAN/4) v Reo WILDE (USA/6)

The No 4 and 6 seeds will meet again after their 1/4 final match at the World Cup Stage in Ogden (USA) last month. Reo WILDE won 148 to 146 over TRILLUS. However, TRILLUS beat WILDE in a close shoot-off last year in Shanghai, preventing him from reaching the 2010 World Cup Final.

TRILLUS came to archery late but he was passionate to learn everything about it. He made the trip to the Leipzig 2007 Word Championships, more to discover his native Germany than with real ambitions for the competition. It should have been his last event. He surprised everyone and became the world champion! Instead of retiring, he turned professional and won the World Cup Final the following year, in Lausanne—the Olympic capital.

WILDE has already won everything in his career! Among an incredible amount of gold medal and world records, he is also the double 2009 world champion (team and individual). After missing out on the Finals since 2006, he will finally be back in the “big dance” in Istanbul. That year, for the first version of the World Cup, he won the Final in the Mayapan Pyramids shooting a perfect score of 120 (only 12 arrows at the time).

TRILLUS v WILDE: this is always the clash of the titans!

WILDE turned on the heat immediately with X10-X10-10 and 10-X10-X10 to take the lead 60-57.

TRILLUS lost all chance of winning in the third end when he had a problem with his bow and shot a M with his last arrow (10-9-M), missing the scoreboard. WILDE kept it perfect with 10-10-X10.

TRILLUS finished with 10-10-9 and 9-10-9 to reach 133 points.

WILDE kept it perfect in the fourth end but could not add any more Xs (10-10-10). He added three more 10s in the last end with one X! A perfect score with 150 points for WILDE! However it seems he did not score enough X10’s to break his world record. He scored six X10s, while his current record is 150 points, including ten X10s. Nonetheless his fifteen 10s put him back in the race for the Longines Prize for Precision. Now he only trails Rodger WILLET JR by five 10s (393-398), which was not really foreseen at the beginning of the week. What a performance on the beautiful Shanghai riverside!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): TRILLUS did not quite find his rhythm today. Then he was certainly unlucky with his miss. He told me that he did not know what happened and actually did not see where it went. Anyway, no one has ever beaten somebody who scored a perfect 150 score yet. Reo was on fire today and he truly earned that gold medal!

Bronze – Logan WILDE (USA/8) v Angel RAMIREZ (MEX/26)

The No. 8 and 26 seeds face each other for the first time in the World Cup’s history. RAMIREZ, 20 years old, recently ranked 17th in individuals and 4th in teams at the Youth World Archery Championships in Legnica (POL). Logan WILDE, besides being Reo’s brother and the famous Dee’s son, has a strong career on of his own. His best individual achievement is a victory at the Archery World Cup Stage in San Salvador (ESA) in 2006.

WILDE took a 1-point advantage after the first end, but RAMIREZ scored a perfect 30 in the second end to gain the lead, 57-56. WILDE came back at 85-85 in the third end.

Another perfect 30 from RAMIREZ gave him a 2-point lead after 12 arrows, 115-113! WILDE put pressure in the last end with 10-10-10. RAMIREZ scored 10-9 and needed a last 10 to win the match. He shot and he scored 10! Bronze medal!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): What a match! It was really exciting right down to the finish. With Logan putting on the pressure in the last end with 10-10-10 and Angel answering with that final 10 to clinch the bronze; that was terrific!

Compound Women Individual

Gold – Jamie VAN NATTA (USA/1) v Erika ANTSCHUTZ (USA/10)

Surprisingly, the two women from the USA never met before in the World Cup. VAN NATTA, who won the World Cup Final in 2008, had not reached a bronze or a gold medal match this year before Shanghai, whereas ANSCHUTZ won in Porec (CRO) and ranked 2nd in Ogden (USA) last month.

ANSCHUTZ leads the World Cup ranking and will be the No. 1 seed at the World Cup Final in Istanbul. She is also in the hunt for the Longines Prize for Precision, trailing LONGO by ten 10s before this match. She is having a wonderful season!

Both archers started with 28 and 29. Then VAN NATTA scored a perfect 30, while ANSCHUTZ had 29. She trailed 86-87.

Both archers started the fourth end with 10-10! However ANSCHUTZ finished with an 8. VAN NATTA took moderate advantage of it with a 9. She led 116-114.

ANSCHUTZ put some pressure in the last end with 10-10-9. VAN NATTA answered with 10-9 and stuttered a little with her last arrow. However she scored 10 and kept a 2-point margin for the victory, 145-143. VAN NATTA raised her arms and looked relieved! Her win is a great consolation for the fact that she did not make it to the Istanbul World Cup Final.

ANSCHUTZ scored nine 10s in the match to put her neck and neck with LONGO in the Longines Prize for Precision. The Italian currently has 276 in the season, while ANSCHUTZ now has 275. The Prize will be decided in the World Cup Final in Istanbul!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): Great match! High level! The match was tied after two ends. Then VAN NATTA took the lead with a perfect 30 and did not let go. I would not want to be archer trailing against Jamie.

Bronze – Laura LONGO (ITA/4) v Danielle BROWN (GBR/6)

The No. 4 and 6 seeds in Shanghai already met once in 2009 during the Summer Universiade in Belgrade (SRB). LONGO won over BROWN 112 to 110. LONGO won the bronze medal at the Ulsan 2009 World Championships. BROWN won a team gold medal at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. Moreover, she won one gold and two silvers and the World Archery Para Championships in Turin this summer. She was named the International Paralympic Committee Athlete of the Month in July.

Both archers shot two ends of 28 to start the match; the score was tied at 56-56. BROWN shot 28 again in the third end, but LONGO managed to score a 29 to take a 1-point lead, 85-84.

The Italian scored 10-9-9 in the fourth, while the British shooter had 8-9-10 and conceded one more point. LONGO led 113-111.

BROWN could not put pressure on her opponent in the last end with 10-9-8. LONGO finished with 10-9-10 to win the bronze medal, 142-138!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): It was a good, tight match that could have gone either way. BROWN’s two 8s in the two last ends put her down. Eights in compound are the real difference makers.

Compound Men Team

Gold – USA (USA/1) v India (IND/2)

These teams are meeting for the first time during an international competition. The USA won all of their team matches this season in the World Cup and the world championships. The young Indian team won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year at home.

A perfect start for WILDE/WILLET JR/GELLENTHIEN with 60 points! The young Indian team, clearly the underdogs in this match, started well but still conceded some points. With 10-9-10-10-9-9, they trailed 57-60.

India continued to hold a fair share of ground in the second end, scoring 58 points. However, the USA did the same and still led by 3-point, 118-115.

Both teams scored 58 points again in the third end, 176-173.

CHITTIBOMMA/ SRITHER/KHURAIJAM finished with 9-8-10-10-10-9 . WILDE/WILLET JR/GELLENTHIEN finished a great match with 10-10-10-10-9-10 to win the gold 235-229! They are undefeated in the World Cup and world championships this season!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): It was a very good match. The second Indian shooter took some time to find his stride. However, hats off to the Americans for an impressive performance. Congratulations especially to Braden GELLENTHIEN. I knew he came into this match with 64 straight 10s in team rounds. He was perfect again today scoring eight more 10s. That is 72 arrows in the 10! The equivalent of his participation in nine team matches or a perfect 720 during a 50-meter round shot in qualifications!

Compound Women Team

Gold – USA (USA/1) v Russia (RUS/2)

Arch-rivals in this category, these two teams already met once in a final this year at the Archery World Cup Stage in Porec (CRO)! Russia beat the USA 227 to 213. However, the Americans won the world title in Turin (against Iran).

A lot of talent on the field! The USA were shooting in the order of VAN NATTA/WATSON/COLIN, while Russia had BALZHANOVA/AVDEEVA/LOGINOVA. AVDEEVA dropped a low 5 with first arrow and that put Russia in a hole, while the USA shot pretty well. The Americans had a good lead after six arrows 56-50.

The USA continued well with an end of 57 points, while Russia did not raise their game much, shooting 53. The Americans held a 10-point margin half way through the match, 113-103.

Both teams scored 56 points in the third end, giving the USA a 169-159 lead.

VAN NATTA/WATSON/COLIN finished with X10-X10-X10-9-9-10 to win the gold medal, 227-214!

This afternoon we had Canadian national archer Hugh MACDONALD with us. He said: although the gap is big the difference was the third archer. VAN NATTA/WATSON/COLIN scored 75, 75, 77. Although BALZHANOVA and LOGINOVA shot 75 each, AVDEEVA shot only 64 points. Her 5 and a 6 really hurt the team. The third Russian was really the least experienced archer on the field.

Compound Mixed Team

Gold – Mexico (MEX/4) v France (FRA/3)

France has already won two bronze medals in mixed teams during the World Cup this year, whereas Mexico appeared in a final for the first time.

The teams traded ends of 37 and 38 in the first eight arrows.

They turned it up one more notch in the third end. LEBECQUE/DELOCHE, in this order of shooting, scored 39, while OCHOA/ALVARADO had 40 to take a 115-114 lead.

France could not apply the pressure in the last end with 9-9-8-10. Mexico finished strong with 10-10-X10-9 to clinch the gold, 154-150!

Hugh MACDONALD (CAN): The Mexican Linda OCHOA took control of the match. She started with a 9 but then she shot 10 until the end. It was the difference!