The finals of the 2023 Indoor World Series 250-Taipei Archery Open took place on the 10th. In the evening, the recurve finals featured a “sister showdown” and a “brotherly battle.” In the women’s category, Lei Chien-Ying claimed the gold, while in the men’s category, Tai Yu-Hsuan emerged victorious. The previously dominant “Mr. Perfect” in the compound bow men’s category, Mike Schloesser from the Netherlands, fell short on the last day, settling for a regrettable silver medal.
Lei Chien-Ying showcased her exceptional fundamental skills throughout the event. On the final day, she sealed the victory with three flawless arrows, denying Su Hsin-Yu any chance. With a perfect score of 30 points, she secured the win with a total score of 6-4, earning a prize of $3,000.
“After all, short-distance competitions are quite enjoyable, bringing back the feeling I had when I first started to love archery,” commented Lei Chien-Ying after the match. She continued to encourage Su Hsin-Yu, praising her excellent performance and emphasizing that competing against outstanding athletes brings a fresh and exciting experience. Lei urged her to continue shooting arrows and enjoy the journey.
In the men’s category, Tai Yu-Hsuan faced his fellow Tang Chih-Chun, in the gold medal match. Both had been teammates in this year’s Hangzhou Asian Games. In the fifth round, Tang Chih-Chun scored a perfect 30 points, striving for an additional shoot-off. However, Tai Yu-Hsuan remained unyielding, securing the victory with a perfect 30 points to conclude the match.
“I am very happy. It feels great to win a gold medal in this kind of competition for the first time,” said Tai Yu-Hsuan in a post-match interview with the broadcasting unit. Although nervousness was still evident, he demonstrated composure when facing Tang Chih-Chun’s attempts to alter the pace and progressively pressurize, proving the success of his adaptation over these past two days.
In the compound women gold medal match, Parneet Kaur and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who together secured the women’s team gold for India at the Hangzhou Asian Games, battled fiercely until the last arrow. Kaur narrowly won with a score of 146-145 against the three-time gold medalist from Hangzhou.
Including today, the two have faced each other for the fourth time. With Kaur securing the gold, they now have a tied record of 2-2. She mentioned, “We have encountered each other in international competitions before. Today, I treated it as starting from a completely new match. However, I still felt a bit nervous. I tried hard to focus on myself, and I am delighted to come out victorious.”
In the compound men event, Mike Schloesser from the Netherlands, who shot flawlessly with all 60 arrows scoring full points in the previous two days, stumbled with the first arrow in the gold medal match. Although he ultimately delivered an impressive score of 148 points, he narrowly lost by 1 point to the emerging 19-year-old Indian archer, Prathamesh Jawkar, settling for the silver medal.
“I still thoroughly enjoyed the competition. Of course, there’s pressure, but that’s how competitions are. Overall, I feel very happy with this journey, and I really like Taipei,” said Schloesser. In today’s competition, he was assisted by his wife, Gabriela, in scoring, but unfortunately, the couple couldn’t secure gold together.
Jawkar had previously defeated Schloesser in the World Cup Mexico a few days ago. He acknowledged Schloesser’s excellent performance in the past two days and commented, “He is a great archer. Seeing his first arrow not hitting the ten-ring did relax me a bit.”
