Mike Schloesser and Ella Gibson won the Vegas Shoot on Sunday, prevailing after hours of relentless pressure in the compound men’s and women’s shootdowns on the new shootoff target in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
It marked a third Vegas title for Schloesser, while Gibson secured her first victory at the most prestigious event on the Indoor Archery World Series circuit, held at the 4500-capacity Planet Hollywood Theatre.
It was an emotional win for Schloesser, with his wife Gaby and their 10-month-old daughter Luna watching from the stands.
“It makes me very emotional; this year has been tough coming to terms with dad life,” said world number two Schloesser, who first won the Vegas title in 2014. “I feel the season wasn’t like I wanted it to be – it was tougher than I expected. But in the end, I closed it out very strong with a win here. I’m super proud of that.”
The shootdown opened with a clean first end across the field, with only Jacob Weber eliminated.
As the competition progressed to the inner 10 scoring zone, where only arrows touching the X-ring counted, the field quickly narrowed. The second end saw 12 archers eliminated – including Abhishek Verma, Braden Gellenthien and Robin Jaatma – leaving 19 to advance.
By the fifth end, several top names – including Ajay Scott, Stephan Hansen and Nicolas Girard – had exited.
Two-time champion Kyle Douglas, who had led throughout qualification, was the next to fall, just missing out on the podium, while Bodie Turner exited in the seventh end with a 29, falling short of a third title.
The contest came down to Matthew Burns and Schloesser in the eighth and final end, where Schloesser shot 30 to Burns’ 29 to secure victory.
