In Hazal and her teammates’ case, shooting at a stage final on archery’s premier international circuit were all completely new feelings, and perhaps their rawness and excitement at simply being there — with all three archers in their early twenties — helped them not to overcomplicate proceedings.
For Akçaoglu, Sezgin, and Haney, however, they have been in winning situations aplenty, but until today had come up short.
They most recently became compound men’s team runners-up at Puebla — stage one — which was their fourth silver medal at a World Cup together, one of which came against the USA at Yecheon 2024 where they lost 233-235.
But on a beautifully bright morning at the Riverside Financial Plaza nestled deep in Shanghai’s Pudong area, the narrative changed as it was they who held onto their nerve, tying scores with Lutz, Carter, and Price up until the final fourth end before the latter two dropped two nines and an eight, whilst Türkiye strung together a formidable 59 to triumph 234-231.
Victory at last.
“It’s the perfect feeling, perfect atmosphere here taking the gold in the World Cup Stage Two in Shanghai,” exclaimed a gleaming Akçaoglu, who as first shooter dropped five 10s. “Last year we took a silver medal in the men’s team [at Antalya 2025], and now here we are. We were prepared, we were ready and took the gold.”
“The conditions are windy… it’s tricky wind out there. The match was really close. Our opponent is really strong, but we are also strong.”
Competition in Shanghai continues with the compound individual finals in the afternoon.
