Casey Kaufhold has booked her second final four appearance of the Hyundai Archery World Cup season, qualifying for the recurve women’s individual semifinals at stage three in Antalya.
The world number two beat China’s Hai Ligan, 6-2, in Saturday’s eliminations. It follows her top-four finish at the opening stage in Central Florida earlier this year, where she fell short in both the semifinal and bronze medal matches.
She is aiming to win her second career individual medal on archery’s premier circuit having after Paris 2023, when she faces reigning Olympic Champion An San on the beachside finals stage in Antalya on Sunday.
“This World Cup’s started off a little different,” said Kaufhold. “I ranked a little bit lower than I did in Florida when I was sixth. Here I ranked 18th, so the matches escalated quickly, but I made sure to stay in the zone, and worry about my shots, my mental, and just stay in my bubble.”
Kaufhold emotionally embraced teammate Jennifer Mucino after securing her spot in the final four.
Despite her lower seeding from Wednesday’s 60-arrow qualification round, the American has now qualified for two medal matches this week. She’ll also shoot for gold in the recurve women’s team event alongside Mucino and Catalina Gnoriega, after the trio stunned reigning Olympic Games Korea in the semifinals.
Kaufhold has never won more than one medal at a single World Cup stage. That could change on Sunday.
This season’s condensed schedule means she will compete in both the team and individual finals on the same day – without a day of rest in between.
“I actually like it better to not have the day in between,” said the Indoor Archery World Series Finals champion. “Right off this high of shooting well here and just roll right into the matches on stage tomorrow.”
“I prefer to do both [individual and team], because it’s nice to get experience on the stage more before the next one. We’ll go out there in the morning, I’ll get a good sight, mark a good feel for the wind.”
Joining Kaufhold and An in the women’s final four are Lim Sihyeon – who won three medals at Paris 2024 – and Italy’s Loredana Spera.
