CALI, Colombia - Having just climbed back to the World Ranked number one slot, Team USA celebrates Erika Jones (Grand Island, Neb.), who opened the qualifying round of the 2013 World Games with a world record breaking 704 points. Jones shared with World Archery "It's awesome to have a small number of people but really high quality. It makes for a different experience. The World Games are awesome for us because all the different sports and countries come together, like an Olympic Games, so it's cool to be a part of this."
Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho) qualified second, right behind Italy's Sergio Pagni. Wilde tied with Peter Elzinga of the Netherlands. USA's Carli Cochran (Willow Street, Pa.) qualified 11th after a breakout year in the World Cup circuit. Steve Anderson (Salt Lake City, Utah) qualified 12th on the men's side.
As the mixed team eliminations began the following day, Jones and Wilde swept the competition. With the highest score in the quarterfinals in a tight match against France, the duo walked in to semifinals against Denmark. They defeated Damsbo and Soemod by a fair margin and challenged the team from Italy for the gold. Pagni and Tonioli, the winners of the last two World Cup stages, had won only one of their past seven match ups against the US in the last several years, and Jones and Wilde increased the record winning gold with a solid lead and an impressive 157. Germany took bronze over Denmark.
In the first round of eliminations on the women's compound side, Cochran was upset by No. 22 seed Viktoriya Balzhanova of Russia. In the 1/8th Sara Lopez of Colombia upset No. 5 seed, Germany's Kristina Berger and Ana Mendoza of Venezuela fell to Mino Abedi of Iran. Lopez continued to climb through the quarterfinals, defeating Russia's Albina Loginova. Jones got to rematch her opponent from last week's final match at the World Cup in Medellin and showed up Colombia's Alejandra Usquiano.
With a second win of the day over Denmark's Soemod, Jones clinched her first major individual title of the year. Her individual gold also placed her back on top of the World Rankings and sent her home with every possible gold medal from her first World Games and a new world record. Colombia's Lopez won bronze over Croatia's Ivana Buden.
The men's individual eliminations saw early upsets including a first round loss of former world champion Dietmar Trillus of Canada. Reo Wilde shot straight tens through the 1/8th until he finished with a 9 for the highest score on the field. Pagni was upset early as well by India's Ritul Chatterjee. Former World Cup Final winner, Jorge Jimenez bowed out to Roberto Hernandez of El Salvador. USA's Steve Anderson tied his fierce competitor, France's Pierre-Julien Deloche, but lost a shoot off with a 9.
Wilde avenged the USA defeat, continuing his dominance over the compound competition. With another 149, Wilde claimed the gold medal and individual title in a solid effort to regain his place as World Ranked No. 1, a spot currently held by teammate Braden Gellenthien (College Station, Tx.) Deloche settled for second at the conclusion of a great performance in Colombia. El Salvador's Hernandez faced a heated battle with Germany's Paul Titscher. Aided by three consecutive ends of perfect scores, Hernandez outshot Titscher by a single point to clinch victory for the bronze.
Competition continues with the field archery competition, which can be followed at https://www.facebook.com/WorldArcheryPage or on the World Archery webpage.
Complete results from the compound competition can be found at worldarchery.org.
Some information attributed to World Archery Communication.
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