Dustin Watson advances to semifinals in Yankton
YANKTON, US – During the first round of eliminations at the 2022 World Archery Field Championships, five Canadians took to the shooting line in match play today.
Three compound U21 men had a chance to shoot today. Jacob Bourassa faced off against Austrian Mario Hehenberger in his first match at a World Championships. Hehenberger carried a small lead throughout and unfortunately, Bourassa dropped the match.
Brady Klassen, out of Manitoba, shot in his first match today against 14th-ranked Albin Hägglund from Sweden. It was a tight match, never more than 2 points separating the men. After the fifth end, they were tied at 69 points. Klassen pulled out the win by one point, winning 84-83 overall. He then advanced to shoot against 7th-ranked Ryan Booth (USA), and while Klassen held a strong lead in the first four ends, Booth was able to pull off the win in the end.
After American archer Booth shot against Klassen, he advanced to meet Canadian Dustin Watson in his next match. Watson was able to consistently hold a 3-point lead over his appointment and won the match with a score of 95-92. Winning this match meant that Watson was the winner of Pool D. He then moved on to face Gergo Elekes from Hungary, who was ranked 3rd overall in qualifications. Watson continued to shoot strongly, dominating the match with a score of 99-93 and shot at least one 6 in each end. In field archery, 6 points are awarded when an archer shoots in the most inner yellow circle. He has now advanced to the semifinals, where he will face Aljaz Matija Brenk (SLO), the 2nd-highest qualifying archer in this competition. The semifinals were originally scheduled to take place today, but due to schedule delays, they have been moved to tomorrow morning.
“I shot some really strong shots today,” Watson commented at the end of the day. “Shooting with the best archers in the world has been a privilege, which is made all the better by shooting with archers who keep it fun. I’m really proud of myself for performing just as well today and throughout the week as I have at home. I’m looking forward to finishing this week out strong and sticking to my process. I want to give a special thanks to my best buddy Brady Klassen for being such a good teammate and friend.”
Fiona McClean, the sole Canadian female compound competitor, shot against Alexa Misis Olivares of Spain for her first round. While McClean managed to hold the lead for most of the match, Olivares emerged victorious at the end with a score of 93-89.
Watson will face Brenk in the semifinals tomorrow at 2:00 pm local time (3:00 pm EST). He will also compete alongside Tasjia Boyle in the compound U21 mixed team semifinal against Romania at 10:00 am local time (11:00 am EST).
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