Shanghai 2024: Vennam, Wiener win compound titles at season opener

The Austrian 27-year-old didn’t miss the eight-centimetre 10-ring in the 15-arrow match and only missed the four-centimetre X-ring (used to break qualifying ties and set records) twice in the first end, and once each in the second and third.

“Last year, the season was really difficult. I didn’t win anything,” he said. “So to win here is amazing. I’m so excited to be in Mexico.”

Tlaxcala will be Wiener’s first Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.

It will be Jyothi Surekha Vennam’s second after Hermosillo last year – and she beat the top-seeded archer from Mexico to secure the slot. She shouldn’t have had the chance.

Andrea Becerra had a point to lose with an arrow to go. But her last shot broke high, landed in the eight, and when Vennam put down a wide-ish nine, Becerra found an even wider one.

“It was one unlucky shot,” said Becerra. “That’s archery.”

This season of the Hyundai Archery World Cup consists of three stages rather than four – so points accrued with high finishes in Shanghai put archers in prime position to qualify for the final on ranking, if not as stage winners like Vennam and Wiener.

Competition in Shanghai concludes with recurve finals on Sunday.