Türkiye (Türkiye) v USA (USA) | Match | 2026 Archery World Cup

It's Christian Stoddard who will shoot first. Jack Williams and Brady Ellison. This is the recurve men's team gold medal match at stage one of the Hyundai Archery World Cup. And straight away Christian Stoddard has had to go for a redraw. I'll eat the time. What a start! Stoddard straight into the 10. I wonder whether Brady said something to him on the redraw there. He probably said something along the lines of just take your time, we'll be okay. Because that's essentially what I would say. Jack Williams going second for the USA team and here is the man himself Brady Ellison. Low eight but shaking it off straight away. First rotation now for Turkey. Mete Gazos leading the line. Interested to see what they do with their rotation. Will Mete shoot first and last? I mean that would be a good option but we've also seen that Gokturk is not afraid of putting somebody on the spot and having trust in a younger athlete. Gokturk Ergin the coach of the Turkish team. Akoyun dropping into the seven. Now a bit of pressure on the 23-year-old world number 19 Birkin Tumur. He puts it into the eight. So a 25 start there is Gokturk Ergin. Second rotation for the USA and Stoddard comes out again first. Yeah he did show us that he's not afraid of opening a match with that well pretty much dead center axe that he started the match off with. Well a nine from Williams means whatever Ellison shoots here, Takir can still get points in this set. After an eight from Ellison with his first arrow means that we need to see this Turkish trio go 30 in the second rotation to get one point. Yeah putting Akoyun first here so Mete is likely exactly anchoring as well. So opening and anchoring these rotations. They can't bag the points here Takir. They can't bag any points because 54 is the maximum they can get. I'll bet you bottom dollar that Mete Gazos won't waste this opportunity to shoot at his best and he does just that. 54 set by Takir. The last rotation almost like a rehearsal for the second set. 29 though very impressive from Takir. The points though in set one go to the USA. It's good to see though that they're all smiles even though they lost that first set. No serious looks. They're just enjoying the fact that they're out there and yeah like I said all smiles. We get a good look at Brady's grip here. B of course standing for Brady Ellison. Brady's found some forming in this season so far. Of course it's probably been this competition but very impressive scoring in the eliminations and in the team matches. So very curious to see how the rest of the season develops. Set number two. Takir to shoot first. They shot a 29 in their second rotation of the first set. Can they hit those high standards again? Mete Gazos starts with a 10. Great support in this team. The intensity of the conversation has gone up on the Takir side of the shooting line. Yeah I think it's not a bad thing to have a little bit of adrenaline going through veins as long as you can kind of guide it through your body in the right way. So 28 first rotation from Takir. They are back in the game. Another 10 there for Stoddard. 29 of the 30 so far. There we go. The first 10 for Jack Williams but on the line and I think maybe on the knock of Christian Stoddard so might be smart to check that arrow. Another 8 from Ellison. Yeah low again as well. Beautiful shot from Berkay Akyan. 20 year old. I think Mete knows Akyan good enough that he knew that was going to be in the middle because he already yelled that it was good before the arrow hit the target. Two 10s in the second rotation for Takir and the big man is yet to shoot. Longer hold than we expect from Mete Gazos and that 8 kind of gives the USA a chance to win this set still if they get a good second rotation. Now the pressure is on the USA. Jack Williams to shoot next. Two 10s required to share the points. The Takir team. 2-2 set number three over to you Christian Stoddard. A bit of doubt on his face. I'm sure he didn't think that would go all the way to the left but Jack Williams hasn't been shooting bad arrows but the 10 is kind of eluding him. Trying to get sneaky looks at the flags out on the range. It looks very still at the moment. 25-26 I should say from the USA represents an opportunity for a buoyant Takir. It's going to be interesting to see if this is also going left. It's not. A bit more like kind of pace of shot we see from Mete Gazos. And I think it's a bit of a chicken and the egg kind of situation where the bad shots typically take longer but it's also the shots are bad because they take longer so it's kind of it can be either or. That 8 still puts them one point ahead of the US after the first rotation. So Christian can put some pressure on here. Left again. Yeah and they're talking about it. They're talking about that wind pulling them across to the left. Jack Williams on the line still left but in the 9 still. It almost makes you think are they shooting arrows on the left because they're afraid of shooting arrows on the left. So three nines for a 53. This has to be a massive opportunity for Takir. They've got three points to play with to go 4-2 up against the USA. And they give them all away in the first arrow of the second rotation. Now the pressure switches over. Two 10s to win the set and it's a 9. So by my calculations a 10 required from Gazos to share the points. Very important arrow this. Oh what else? What else? He doesn't celebrate that one. There's no handshakes around but boy oh boy that's the biggest arrow of the match so far. 53 plays 53 in the third set. Takir and the USA are tied at three set points apiece. I get the feeling that both teams will have a feeling after this last set thinking oh we got away with that. Set number four. Thrilling contest this one between Takir and the USA for a recurve men's team gold medal. Christian Stonor back on the shooting line. I was going to say Blank Slate tried to hit the middle rather than go to the left but it's easier said than done of course. We're sitting looking at them shoot rather than being on the line ourselves but you need to shoot confident shots now. Ellison shot two eights in the first rotation in the first two sets. He nails the 10 ring for a 28 first rotation from the USA. They've upped their game in set four. Ellison taking control on the shooting line. Target two Mete Gazos taking control. That's four 10s to start the set for Takir. Yeah Mete really has only had one hiccup and for the rest that one eight for the rest he's only hit the 10 ring. Set number four is looking tasty. Ah look at the group as well. Three 10s but those arrows shot 70 meters away from the target landing within a tiny little circle on the target. Yeah that inner circle is only four centimeters across just to give you a bit of an idea. Nice 10 there by Christian Stoddard. They need to put up a high score here in the second rotation or Turkey will walk away with this. 10 from Stoddard, 10 from Williams. Ellison on the line. It's a nine from him but a much better rotation. 29 for the second one to set a 57. A 60 available to Takir. These three arrows to decide which way the recurve men's team gold medal will go and that's a nine. That's good enough. Either one of these next two archers shoots a 10. Gold is enough. Oh he's right on the line for a nine. And guess what? That means that Mete will need to shoot a 10 for this match. 10 to win, nine for a tiebreaker. Mete Gazos into the nine. The match does deserve this. We do have to wait for compilation obviously but we've got it down as 57 apiece for another tied set and 4-4 after the four regulation sets. Takir versus the USA in a shoot off for the recurve men's team gold medal. Christian Stoddard on the line for the USA to shoot first. Really really nice 10 there by Christian Stoddard. Birkin Tumat to shoot first for Takir. Oh and that is shaky. They all count. Important to note that if there is a tight score they will look at which arrows closest to center so Takir slightly in the lead technically speaking. Jack Williams pops it into the nine now. Birkin Akoyun, the youngest member of the Turkish team. He'll be feeling the pressure. They're shaky. Really good shot there. Takir have this in their own hands with Mete Gazos to shoot last. Brady Ellison on the line for the USA. He knows a 10 is required at this point to put some pressure on Gazos and he hits the x-ring. That x-ring might be really important because if Mete doesn't shoot a 10 here that means that the USA have an arrow that's closer to center. Real pressure arrow from Ellison. Gazos on the line. 10 for the win. It is a nine. What a match this was. Thrilling to the end but the USA have done it through a shoot-off. They've taken the recur of men's team gold medal match but what a match it was. Yeah this couldn't have been any closer. Confirmation then. Team USA take the recur of men's team gold medal in an absolute thriller in Puebla.