For Burun and her teammates, competing in a World Cup stage final together was an entirely new experience. With all three archers still in their early twenties, their excitement at simply being on the stage may even have helped them avoid overcomplicating the occasion.
For Akcaoglu, Sezgin and Haney, however, opportunities at this level have become familiar – but until Saturday they had repeatedly fallen short.
The Turkish trio most recently claimed silver at the opening stage of the season in Puebla, which marked their fourth World Cup team silver together. One of those defeats also came against the USA at Yecheon 2024, where they lost 235-233.
But on a bright morning at Riverside Financial Plaza in Shanghai’s Pudong district, the narrative finally changed.
The Turkish trio matched scores with Lutz, Carter and Price through the opening three ends before the USA dropped two nines and an eight in the fourth, while Türkiye closed with a formidable 59 to secure victory, 234-231.
Victory at last.
“It’s the perfect feeling, perfect atmosphere here taking gold at stage two in Shanghai,” said Akcaoglu, who shot five 10s as the first shooter in the team. “Last year we took silver in the men’s team [at Antalya 2025], and now here we are. We were prepared, we were ready and we took the gold.”
“The conditions are windy – it’s tricky out there. The match was really close. Our opponent is really strong, but we are also strong.”
Competition in Shanghai continues this afternoon with the compound individual finals.
