The French men’s compound team won the 4th stage of the Hyundai World Cup in Medellin (Colombia) this Saturday. The French Jean-Philippe Boulch, Nicolas Girard and Adrien Gontier won the final against Colombia with a score of 233-231.
The Blues thus close an exceptional season during which they played in the four finals of the four rounds of the Hyundai World Cup with silver in Antalya (Turkey) and Gwangju (South Korea) and gold in Paris in June and in Medellin.
This day of finals started in rainy conditions. This did not prevent the French from setting up their shot and entering their match well, very determined with a first end at 59 points against 57 for the Colombians. They would keep control of the match on the next three ends with perfect starts from Nico Girard, Adrien Gontier who shot second managed to stay the course and Jean-Philippe Boulch imperial to conclude each series. With three identical ends at 58 points for the two teams in the rest of the match, the Blues won 233 points from 231 to win their fourth medal in a row and their second victory in a row of the season.
Jean-Philippe will play his semi-final at 10:16 p.m. against the American James Lutz, while in the other semi-final, Mike Schloesser (NED) will face Miguel Becerra (Mex).
From left to right Adrien Gontier, Nicolas Girard, Jean-Philippe Boulch
Sébastien Brasseur – Coach of the French team
“It’s a great satisfaction to have gone for the gold medal with a different team, in Paris with Quentin, Nicolas and Jean-Philippe and this time with Adrien. We did nothing more or less. The guys did the job. They had confidence in themselves and in their teammates. Adrien was slightly below but he clung to the performances of his teammates. Today the context of the field of finals does not change much for them emotionally and that’s what makes it work. It’s the end of the season as we imagined it. »
Adrian Gontier
“With Jean-Philippe and Nico it was easy, they only made ten! We must also think back to our journey before the final where we did not have an easy picture with Denmark and the United States.
In the first two finals this season we failed on the last arrows. In the final today, the Colombians started with 57 and they struggled to come back. Nico was great, he scored a lot of 10s and even Xs. We’re going to be behind Jean-Phi for these two games and celebrate all that tonight. »
Nicolas Girard
“We won it can only go. Starting this brings extra pressure because you have to show the way to your friends by doing 10s. I love this situation. It’s also great that Jean-Philippe qualified for the final. »
Relive the last arrows of the French
Text: Laurence Frère – FFTA Photos World Archery Communication Department
