MEDELLIN, CO – The team rounds were in the spotlight today in Medellin at the third stage of the 2023 World Cup. Both the Canadian men and women were in action today, after the qualification rounds yesterday afternoon.
The 13th-ranked Canadian men’s team, composed of Devaang Gupta, Eric Peters, and Crispin Duenas, were first up to shoot. Their opening team match was against the Belgian squad, who was ranked 20th overall. After winning the first end and then dropping the second, they won the next two to seal the victory and move on. India was their next opponent, who ranked 4th after qualifications and received a bye to the ⅛ finals. Unfortunately, even though the Canadians didn’t have an arrow score below eight, they were unable to overcome their opponents and lost the match 6-2.
The women’s team also shot in the competition today. Kristine Esebua, Stephanie Barrett, and Virginie Chénier faced off against the British team. After tying the first end, the Canadians were unable to hold off the Great Britain team, who won the next two ends to take the match.
“In the opener against Belgium, the men’s team played it safe and were victorious in the 1/12th match. However, to be successful in a competitive World Cup bracket you need to be aggressive,” comments Ron van der Hoff, Interim National Coach. “As a team, we made a tactical decision to bring the match to India by always shooting before they would. This attacking style brought us more points and energy. And we believe that this is the way forward from now on. India was just better this time around. A better ranking next time will bring us in a better position to climb the ladder a bit further than 9th place.”
“The ladies team had to shoot the team of Great Britain who had a very unexpected low ranking. It was a decent match but in the end we were no match against GBR who found their confidence again after a bad ranking round.”
The competition continues with another busy day tomorrow with the mixed team events in the morning and then carries on with the individual elimination rounds in the afternoon.
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For more information, please contact:
Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator
(613) 260-2113 ext. 3