Star-packed Archery World Cup takes place in Pudong
The 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup is being held in Pudong this week, bringing together more than 300 athletes from 46 countries and regions, including four Olympic champions and 11 world champions.
The Shanghai competition is a ranking event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. After the Shanghai stop, the World Cup will also visit South Korea and Turkey.
The 2024 Archery World Cup will be held in Pudong's Yuanshen Sports Center and Lujiazui area.
Ten gold medals will be produced in this year's event, covering men's and women's compound and recurve competitions for singles, teams, and mixed teams.
The Yuanshen Sports Center in Pudong will host the qualifying and elimination rounds from April 23 to 26. The finals will be held at the Riverside Financial Plaza in Lujiazui area. Six hundred seats will be made accessible to spectators, doubling last year's number.
The star-packed entry list includes some of the world's best archers. In the Olympic sport of recurve, South Korea's Olympic gold medalists Kim Woo-jin and Kim Je-deok are leading the men's lineup. The women's lineup is led by current world No.1 Casey Kaufhold from the United States and the world's third-ranked Alejandra Valencia from Mexico.
Thomas Aubert, World Archery head of events and marketing, speaks at the opening ceremony for the Archery World Cup.
The compound competitions will feature world's top ranked Mike Schloesser from the Netherlands and Ella Gibson form England.
China is sending an eight-member team, featuring both veteran and young athletes, for the recurve competitions.
"The athletes have just completed their winter training," said Mu Yong, team leader of the Chinese archery national team.
"We make use of the high-level international events like the Archery World Cup in Shanghai to practice the archers' mental power and stability in big competitions," he added.
Residents will be given an opportunity to experience the sport during an archery carnival.
"We are sure that Shanghai will provide the best possible playground for the archers to compete and prepared for the Paris Olympic Games," said Thomas Aubert, World Archery Head of Events and Marketing.
Ninety volunteers have been recruited to provide multi-language services for the event. A citizen's archery carnival will also be organized. Selected amateur archers will be invited to exchange skills with some of the star athletes on Friday.
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