ANTALYA, TR – Today, in Turkey, three Canadians competed in the individual elimination rounds in the first stage of the 2023 World Cup. Stephanie Barrett, Eric Peters, and Andrew Azores were all on the shooting line today.

After winning her first match two days ago, Barrett was up against Chien-Ying Lei (TPE) for her second match. Unfortunately, she was unable to overcome her opponent and dropped the match. Azores’ first opponent today was 3rd-ranked Zhongyuan Li from China. He was able to push the match to five ends, winning the first one and tying the fourth one. While Azores made a solid effort, Li ended up winning the match. 

Peters made it quite far into the competition. His first match today was against Jesus Flores of Mexico, whom he defeated decisively with a score of 7-1. This advanced him to the next match where he faced Ivan Kozhokar (UKR); the Canadian won it with a score of 6-0. In the ⅛ elimination round, Peters faced off against current Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, who was shooting on home soil in Turkey. It was a close match with a couple of tied ends, but Peters was able to defeat the top qualifier in this event and overcome Gazoz to go to the quarterfinals. Once again, the scores were tight between Peters and his opponent, Frenchman Jean-Charles Valladont. By the conclusion of 5 ends, Peters and Valladont were tied at 5 set points, meaning they had to go to tiebreaker. It was a game of inches at that point; Valladont’s arrow was closer to the middle, meaning that Peters’ streak ended there. This resulted in a fantastic placing for the Canadian, meaning that he ends the competition in 5th place. 

“We beat the odds today. Andrew (Azores), Stephanie and Eric’s final rankings are 33rd, 33rd, and 5th. All ahead of their initial ranking,” notes Ron van der Hoff, Interim National Coach. “It was Eric’s day today. I had no doubt in my mind he was able to do this. But it takes a lot of courage to shoot the way he did today. Every archer in Canada should do what he did. When the lights go green, pick up the bow and shoot the arrow. And never, ever let go. It can be scary to do that initially. But if you ever want to be able to win on the big stage, this is the way to go. Eric did just that today and we can all be proud of that. Taking out the Olympic Champion in a set of 30-30 to seal the deal.”

He continues on to say, “The tournament is now finished for us. But as we speak, the archers are in the gym, making sure that next time, they will have an even better chance to get a shot at a World Cup finals day.”

Today marks the end of the Canadian action here in Antalya. The team will now turn their sights towards the next international events. 

To see all the scores from this event, click here: https://info.ianseo.net/

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For more information, please contact:

Zoe Meil, Communications and Safe Sport Coordinator

zmeil@archerycanada.ca

(613) 260-2113 ext. 3