The Indoor World Series 250 – Taipei Archery Open, hosted at Taoyuan NTSU Arena for the second consecutive year, continued with the qualification rounds on the afternoon of the 8th. Indian archer Ankita Bhakat made a remarkable comeback, securing the top position in the women’s recurve bow category. In the men’s compound bow category, Netherlands’ Mike Schloesser achieved a perfect score of 600, claiming the first position.
Bhakat, a bronze medalist in the women’s team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games earlier this year, took some time to adapt to the venue in the first half but regained her composure in the second half, leading with a score of 586. The young local archer, CHIU Yi-Ching, just shy of 20 years old, secured the second position with 585 points, only 1 point behind. LEI Chien-Ying, initially outside the leading group, managed to secure the third position with a final score of 582.
LEI Chien-Ying admitted that she did not specifically prepare for this competition. Initially focusing on completing her movements, she stated, “At the beginning, I didn’t grasp the tension of the competition. I found a way to change my mindset during the competition, telling myself not to be too impatient, and eventually stabilized.”
In contrast to the closely contested women’s category, the men’s compound bow competition was without suspense. Schloesser hit a perfect score with 60 tens in a row, repeating his “perfect game” from the previous edition. He remarked after the competition, “I’ve had two perfect scores in my life, both on this field.”
The organizers broadcasted Schloesser’s perfect performance, immediately gaining him numerous fans. Signing autographs and taking photos took almost ten minutes. He mentioned that this year’s event was livelier than the previous one, expressing his enjoyment of archery, the competition, and meeting people.
Schloesser revealed the secret to his perfection – constant practice. “I can practice in my garden at home for 4 to 5 hours every day, maybe even more, because if you want to practice, you can. And regardless of seeing the scores or not, I try to adjust my emotions as much as possible.”
Joining Schloesser in archery practice in the garden is his wife, Gabriela Schloesser, who also participated and advanced in the competition. Both secured gold medals in their respective categories of women’s recurve bow and men’s compound bow at last year’s event. “We met at a World Cup; she’s Mexican, and I happen to speak Spanish, so I invited her out.”
Schloesser mentioned that he had limited time in Taipei last year, but this time they came early for sightseeing. “I really want to explore the night markets with my wife; I think it will be a lot of fun.”
