LIMERICK, IE – Today was the first day of official competition at the 2023 World Archery Youth Championships. The qualification rounds took place throughout the day, with the U21 categories shooting in the morning and the U18 categories rounding out the afternoon. 

Adam Berge, the highest-qualifying of three compound archers in the U21 men’s category, shot 72 arrows to score 673 points, which earned him a ranking of 34th. Berge earned himself a bye to the second round, where he will then shoot against Moritz Kurz of Germany, who ranked 31st. Ryan Cherniak landed in 50th place and totalled 659 points with his arrows. He also receives a bye to the second round of eliminations, where his opponent will be 15th-ranked Frenchman Francois Dubois. The third Canadian U21 men archer, Kolby Boutilier, scored 651 points to earn the 57th place. His opponent in the first round will be István Csernák of Hungary, who was ranked just above him in the qualifiers (56th). Boutilier’s match will begin at 9:15 am ET local time (4:15 am ET) on Saturday, July 8; Berge and Cherniak will both shoot their match at 10:00 am local time (5:00 am ET) on the same day.

Chyler Sanders shot a total of 648 points and landed in the 35th position in the women’s U21 compound category. She will shoot her first match against Italian Martina Serafini, who landed in 30th place. Jyotsna Challa was able to score 615 points and earned herself the 47th place; her first opponent is set to be 18th-ranked Olha Khomutovska of Ukraine. To round out the U21 compound team, Brynnleigh Lohner scored 554 points and earned the 52nd spot. She will begin her match play by shooting against 13th-ranked Jennifer Winsenne of Sweden. All of these matches are slated to begin at 10:00 am local time (5:00 am ET) on July 8.

On the recurve side, Dawson Molitor, the sole individual in the U21 men’s category, finished the 720 round with a score of 568 and a placing of 80th; his first match opponent will be Richard Krejci of the Czech Republic on July 9 at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET). In the U21 women’s recurve division, Natalee Chan shot a final score of 494, which meant that she landed in 71st place. Both will shoot their first rounds at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET) on July 9.

In the afternoon, the U18 athletes took to the shooting line. Keegan Crawford shot a total of 646, meaning that he earned the 35th spot. His first match will be against Miguel Rubio of Spain who was ranked 30th. Riley Warwa and Emmett Kapaniuk finished the qualification rounds in 38th with 626 points and 39th place with 620 points, respectively. Warwa will face Xes Argüelles Presa of Spain, who was ranked 27th after qualifications. Kapaniuk will shoot against Paz Carmi of Israel. These first round matches will begin at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET) on July 8.

Madelynn Holkema finished the qualification round in 17th place, with 640 points. Holkema will receive a bye past the first round of matches and will then face Miriam Arenas Sánchez of Spain, who was ranked just above her at 16th place. Bailey Mathers earned herself 615 points and a 26th placing. She also earned a bye to the second round of matches and will face American Liko Arreola, who was ranked 7th after qualifications. Jordyn Polowaniuk earned the 29th position with a final score of 603 points. The bye that she earned will put her up against 4th-ranked Olivia Dean in the second round of matches. All of these matches will take place at 10:55 a.m. local time (5:55 a.m. ET) on July 8. 

Kurtis Ng, on the recurve side, shot 599 points and landed in 57th place. Jack Doherty, who was ranked just above him in 56th place, was then his first opponent, as they competed in his first match today. Doherty walked away with the win and a score of 7-3, but only after Ng held him to five ends. Ryder Wilson, who placed 79th, shot his 72 arrows to score 547. He also competed in his first match today, against Australian Marcus Yiu. The match was incredibly close with both of the individuals having five set points after five ends. They then went to a tiebreak, which the Canadian won by shooting a 10 over Yiu’s 7. He then goes up against Emilis Tamulionis of Lithuania in the 1/24 elimination round, which will take place at 11:00 a.m. on July 9. Sahil Sahota shot a score of 507 and landed in 85th place. His opponent in today’s 1/48 elimination round was Kosei Shirai of Japan, who was ranked 28th. Unfortunately, Sahota was not able to win as Shirai took the match with a score of 6-0. 

Janna Hawash, who was the highest-qualifying archer in the women’s U21 recurve category, totalled 600 points and the 33rd position. In the 1/48 elimination round, she faced Olivia Singh, who was shooting in her home country of Ireland. Although Singh won the first two ends, Hawash was then able to come back and take the next three, meaning she advanced to the next round with a score of 6-2. She will face another archer from Ireland, Amanda Kubiak, who ranked 81st in qualifications; they will shoot on July 9 at 10:10 a.m. local time (5:10 a.m. ET). Audrey Khan Arevalo scored 591 points and the qualification ranking of 44th. Khan Arevalo’s first opponent was Anna Kolodziejczyk of Poland, the match was at the end of the competition day. The Canadian tied the last two ends at 25 points each, but was unable to overcome her opponent. Zohy Wilson finished her qualification round with 537 points and 68th place. Wilson then went up against Inka Limingoja of Finland in her first round. The match was another close one, after five ends, they were tied at five set points each. Wilson was able to win the one arrow shoot-off to take the tiebreaker with an 8 over her opponent’s 7. Her next opponent will be Olha Chebotarenko of Ukraine on July 9 at 10:10 a.m. local time (5:10 a.m. ET). 

In the men’s U18 recurve team competition, Canada earned a ranking of 20th and a score of 1653, which means that they will face off against the Japanese team on July 7 at 11:40 a.m. local time (6:40 a.m. ET). The women’s U18 recurve team will face off against the Moldovan team for their first match, as they placed 14th with their score of 1728. They will shoot their first arrow at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET). The U18 recurve mixed team shot a combined score of 1199 and with their 21st placing, they will face off against the team from Great Britain tomorrow at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET). Unfortunately, the U21 recurve mixed team did not make the cut for the match play, with a score of 1062 and a placing of 31st. 

On the compound side, the 9th-ranked U18 men’s team, who scored a total of 1892 points, will face up against 8th-ranked Slovakia in their first match on July 6 at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET). After scoring 1858 points combined, the 6th-ranked women’s U18 team will face off against Mexico for their first match on the same day at 9:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m ET). The U18 mixed team scored a total of 1286 points, which meant they ranked 12th and their first opponent will be Great Britain, which will happen tomorrow, July 5, at 9:35 a.m. local time (4:35 a.m. ET). 

Canada’s U21 men’s compound team’s first match will be versus Slovenia after the Canadians scored a total of 1983 points and a 12th-place ranking. The 11th-ranked U21 women’s team, who scored 1817, is going to face off against Chinese Taipei, who ranked 6th after qualifications. Both matches will happen on July 6 at 11:10 a.m. local time (6:10 a.m. ET). The U21 compound mixed team scored a combined total of 1321, which means that they will shoot against the 12th-ranked Italian team on July 5 at 11:20 a.m. local time (6:20 a.m. ET). 

“Today was a great day for all archers in all the categories; there were lots of lessons learned and experience gained,” comments Soha Mahmoud, Junior National Coach. “We are proud of each archer for shooting in the cold, rainy and windy weather and still executing the best shots they can. The coaching staff are excited for our U18 recurve, U18 and U21 compound mixed teams tomorrow and wish them all luck!”

The competition will continue with the mixed team elimination rounds tomorrow and then the compound team and recurve team rounds on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Compound individual elimination rounds will take place on Saturday, July 8 and then the event will wrap up on Sunday with the recurve individual elimination rounds. 

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For more information, please contact: 

Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator

zmeil@archerycanada.ca

(613) 260-2113 ext. 3