For USA archers in the compound women open, recurve women open and W1 men, it all comes down to this one moment at the 8th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament and the final opportunity to secure a quota slot for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
A final quota tournament takes place on Wednesday, with one spot available in each division. The USA has its maximum two slots in the compound men open and recurve men open, as well as a slot in the W1 women, so there will be no USA presence in those categories.
Archers aiming for prized slots in their division include Allison Brown, Candice Caesar and Karen Sternfeld (recurve women open), Wendy Gardner and Teresa Wallace (compound women open), and Jason Tabansky (W1 men).
The USA is guaranteed an archer in the quarterfinals of the compound women open, as Gardner and Wallace meet in the 1/8 round.
In the recurve women open, Brown (21st seed) starts against Mahda Aulia (INA, 12), with Caesar (18) tackling Jule Lammers (GER, 15), and Sternfeld (13) facing Leydis Lazara Posada Canizares (CUB, 20).
Victory for Brown would mean a 1/8 round meeting with Selengee Demberel (MGL, 5). Caesar would play Dorothea Poimenidou (GRE, 2), and Sternfeld would take on Bhawna (IND, 4).
Tabansky goes into the W1 men’s event as the second seed, with Jeongdae Kim (KOR, 15) his opponent in the 1/8 round. Tabansky scored 644 in qualification, only bettered by Mohammadreza Zandi (IRI), who managed 646.
Among those watching from the sidelines on Wednesday will be KJ Polish, who will contest two medal matches on Thursday as the 8th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament concludes. He and Gardner will chase gold in the compound open mixed team, against Turkey. A little later he meets Jonathon Milne (AUS) in the compound men open bronze medal match.
Polish fought his way to the bronze medal match with wins on Tuesday over Diego Quesada Arias (CRC), Abdullah Yorulmaz (TUR) and Suraj Singh (IND). He was defeated in the semifinals by Rakesh Kumar, to set up Thursday’s meeting with Milne.
Live scores and results can be found HERE, while Thursday’s medal matches will be live-streamed via World Archery’s platform, archery+.