WORLD CHAMPS PREVIEW
It’s all going down in Den Bosch
Every two years, World Archery holds a target World Championships. This is the longest running international competition in target archery, and has a history going back to 1931, when World Archery was still known as FITA. It was held every year - with a break for WW2 – up until 1959, when it switched to every two years. The associated para-archery competition has been running since 1998 in the same years. Normally, the para competition is in a different city, but this year both competitions are being held in June in the Dutch city with the difficult name: 's-hertogenbosch.
Pronounced something like 'shertergemboss', luckily, locals and foreigners alike are happy to refer to it as Den Bosch ('den boss'). A smaller Dutch town with fortified walls and a rich history, its most notable resident was the artist Hieronymus Bosch in the 15th century.
The 50th edition of the biennial event is shaping up to be the largest in history, with over 80 countries participating. The champs are important not just because of the world titles that are available, but because in the year before an Olympics they act as the primary qualification tournament for the Tokyo 2020 Games, especially for team places. There are 56 places available; the winners of the first team match after qualification each gain a precious three Olympic places for their country - 24 men, and 24 women, as full teams. There is also a secondary tournament which qualifies a handful of single spots. Four years ago, the
championships and qualifiers were held in Copenhagen, in a tournament beset by violent wind and rain.
For many nations and squads: this is the real competition. A world title is a big deal, but in our sport, gaining an Olympic place and then competing for your country remains the reference point for the rest of the world, and the mark of an archery career. Coming home with three spots for Tokyo is, on a national level, at least as important as winning a medal - and often more so.
For the compounds, becoming World Champion is perhaps the pinnacle of the sport. The individual World Champions are Song Yun Soo (Korea) and Sebastien Peineau (France). Song did not make the Korean team this year and is unable to defend her title, whereas Peineau will be returning – and in form.
On the recurve side, the individual holders are Im Dong Hyun (Korea) and Ksenia Perova (Russia). Im, twice a world champion, did not make the final Korean team this year and will not be defending his title. Perova, a ferocious competitor and one of the most perennial dangers in the women's field, will be looking to take her brutal approach to archery back to the podium once more.
At Bow, we decided to take a good look at some of the bigger archery nations who will be competing and what their chances might be. The sport remains dominated by Asian nations, but the results at last year's Asian Games hinted that the era of total Korean domination may be over – although it's still probably unwise to go betting heavily against them.
It should not be forgotten that the host nation is still highly likely to walk away with medals, particularly on the men's side of the sport in both recurve and compound.
Great Britain
Copenhagen 2015 world bronze medallist Adam Ravenscroft is among the archers that has been named again to Great Britain’s compound team for the worlds. He’ll be joined by James Mason and Neil Bridgewater, the same team that won the compound men’s team title at the European Archery Championships in 2018.
The British compound women’s team is named as Lucy Mason, Ella Gibson and Layla Annison. Uniquely amongst all nations competing, all three are juniors. The team beat the junior ranking round world record at the European Grand Prix in Bucharest, Romania in April. An exciting team full of potential, with an average age of just 17, they are looking to compete with the very best senior squads.
Great Britain’s recurve team will not be announced until after the third stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya, after Bow goes to press. It is expected that veteran Naomi Folkard will be competing – which would be her eighth consecutive appearance at an outdoor World Championships for Great Britain, of nine in total – and Bryony Pitman, who made a top eight finish in qualification at this year's Shanghai World Cup.
USA
Three-time Olympic medallist Brady Ellison and newcomer Casey Kaufhold finished top of the USA recurve team trials for the world championships. They will be joined by Jack Williams, Tom Stanwood, Erin Mickelberry and five-time Olympian Khatuna Lorig. It will be Kaufhold's first championships - but Lorig's 10th. The more surprising omission from the team is Mackenzie Brown, who did not make it through the trials. She is the women's reserve.
The USA'S senior recurve team has not seen a lot of strength in depth in recent years, despite a well-developed junior program. Indeed, Stanwood and Mickelberry are not full-time athletes. It remains to be seen if the USA can qualify full teams for Tokyo in the Netherlands. Ellison, however, has hit a rich seam of form recently and looks to be a serious individual podium contender.
Braden Gellenthien, Kris Schaff, James Lutz, Paige Pearce, Alexis Ruiz and Cassidy Cox are the six compound archers that will represent the USA. Gellenthien has finished on the podium at the outdoor world championships three times, accruing two bronze medals and a silver. He finished third in Mexico City in 2017. It would be his ninth appearance at an outdoor world championships.
The two veterans are joined by a first-time international in Lutz to attempt to extend the USA’S strong record in the compound men’s team event. The US is the defending world champion and has won seven of the 12 available titles since compound was introduced to the championships in 1995.
Korea
Kim Woojin, Lee Woo Seok, Lee Seungyun, Chang Hye Jin, Kang Chae Young and Choi Misun have been named as the Korean recurve squad that will compete at all top level events in 2019. It marks returns to the team for Olympians Lee Seungyun and Choi Misun, who last competed internationally in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
All the Korean team now have a good deal of international experience and there are no apparent weaknesses. But after a deeply indifferent Asian Games last year – by their standards – and many other nations hitting similar heights, can the glory days last forever? The men's team performance will be crucial. The women's performance, on point, is still untouchable and it would be very surprising not to see them contest the final.
Lee Seungyun and Kim Woojin (twice) are both previous individual winners. The last person to win a world title three times was Rick Mckinney in 1985. Indeed, a Korean recurve man has won the world championships 12 of the 13 times it has been contested since 1993. (Michele Frangilli of Italy upset the run in 2003.)
Kim Yunhee, So Chaewon, and Choi Bomin are the compound women’s team. Kim Jongho, a two-time winner of the mixed team event at the worlds, Choi Yonghee and newcomer Yang Jaewon are the men's team.
India
India remain a serious threat, most likely at team level, although many years of turmoil, financial problems and political issues may have taken their collective toll. The greatest
star of all, Deepika Kumari, has never quite topped her gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, although she remains perhaps the strongest chance for an individual medal.
India’s recurve team for the Archery World Championships was selected on 16th March after three days of trial at the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar. The men’s team is composed of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav while Deepika Kumari, L Bombayla Devi and Komalika Bari make up the women’s team.
Archers Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das announced their engagement earlier this year.
The compound team is not yet settled, after further turmoil in the Indian squad and a doping allegation levelled at one member. It remains to be seen exactly who will attend.
FRANCE
Reigning world champion Sebastien Peineau is set to defend his title in Den Bosch after France named its compound teams for the upcoming international season.
“It feels great to be in the team and have the opportunity to defend my title from Mexico,” he said. “I know that if it’s a good week, I can perform and have a good run. I also know that it can end really fast with the precision we’ve reached in our category," he said.
Peineau beat Stephan Hansen of Denmark, who was the returning world champion at the time, in a shoot-off in the gold medal match at the worlds in Mexico City in 2017.
He will be joined by Pierre-julien Deloche and Jean Philippe Boulch. Deloche was runnerup at the world championships back in 2013. Sophie Dodemont, Clemence Fraigneau and Sandra Herve are the compound women’s team.
Mexico
Aida Roman, Mariana Avitia, Alejandra Valencia, Angel Alvarado, Luis Alvarez and Ernesto Boardman have been named to Mexico’s recurve women’s and men’s teams for both the 's-hertogenbosch Championships and Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
The women's team is identical to the team that competed at the 2012 London Olympics, and suggests that no newer talents have come through the Mexican system recently. The nation has had significant issues within the sport at Olympic level in recent years.
Others?
There are several other big archery nations that could produce the results. Perhaps the most interesting are the disciplined and worldclass squads appearing from Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Kazakhstan, alongside the usual powerhouses of Korea, Chinese Taipei, China, and Japan. The world of elite archery is definitely still focused towards the East – although the big Western nations will hope to have plenty to say in the Netherlands.