Fire thrills
Four of the top compound archers at The World Games had a day of ups and downs on the second day of competition in Birmingham. Women’s singles champion Ella Gibson nearly blew her chance of a gold medal when she let a two shot lead slip, leading to a single arrow shootout against American Paige Pearce. Going into the last round of the semi, she appeared to have secured her place in the gold medal match-up. However two 9s allowed her opponent to tie the scores. Although both fired 9s for the match decider, it was the British archer’s arrow that was judged closer. In the final, Gibson was in clinical form and when Sara Lopez fired a rogue 8, it was game over for the two time medallist at The World Games. However a short while later, Lopez found a way to transform silver into gold in the mixed team compound final. The World’s best male compound archer Mike Schloesser, had to strike a 10 with his final arrow in order to claim the gold for The Netherlands, a shot he can do with his eyes shut. However it was slightly off centre, and the Avondale Park fans saw their second shootout of the day. Both Colombian athletes had perfect arrows to ensure their national anthem was played on the podium. This also meant that Lopez became the most successful archer at The World Games with a total of four medals.
Abhishek Verma has also had a rollercoaster ride. In the mens singles, he had matched Schloesser arrow for arrow in the greatest match The World Games had ever seen, both archers only dropping one point, with the Indian’s shootout arrow judged the closest. However he could not find such a level in his bronze medal match. However he was immediately out shooting again for his country in the next medal game against Mexico, and finally got the bronze medal his fine efforts deserved. Miguel Beccera, his Mexican opponent was obviously disappointed, but this was more than compensated for, by the gold medal hanging around his shoulders; his reward for winning the mens singles title. Beccera showed amazing consistency in the final, all of his last six arrows went for the maximum, allowing him to take the title by a single point.
Victory walk like an Egyptian
The karate arena in Birmingham was temporarily transformed into a Saharan oasis, with pyramids shimmering in the distance, as Egypt excelled at the martial art. In the mens finals, Youseff Badawy and Abdalla Abdelaziz, hear the Egyptian anthem playing, whilst Taha Mahmoud also picked up a bronze. Fellow North African Chehinez Jemi became the first Tunisian to medal at The World Games, after emerging victorious in the bronze match. Also making history was Alexandra Grande. Though unable to repeat her golden exploits of 2017, another appearance in the final made her the first Peruvian to medal at two editions of the premier multi-sports event for non Olympic disciplines.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in The World Games.