Shamai Yamrom Wins Bronze Medal at the Berlin Open Indoor Tournament

Shamai Yamrom, the 20-year-old archer from the Maccabi Rishon Archery Club, won the bronze medal yesterday at the Berlin Open Indoor Tournament. Yamrom finished the qualification round in second place with a score of 595 points, demonstrating consistent and precise shooting on his way to the podium. He advanced comfortably through the first three elimination rounds (1/16 finals, round of 16, and quarterfinals), but in the semifinals he was narrowly defeated by Denmark’s Martin Damsbo by a single point, 148–147, and moved to the bronze-medal match.

In the bronze-medal final, Yamrom faced Germany’s Arnold Janik, who had ranked first in the qualification round. Yamrom opened with a 30–29 deficit in the first end, while the next two ends were shot perfectly by both athletes. In the fourth end, Yamrom claimed a 30–29 win to level the match, and in the decisive fifth end he took advantage of a mistake by the German archer, closing the match with a perfect score of 30 to secure the bronze medal.

“After last summer’s season, I decided to take a short reset and rework several aspects of my shooting,” said Yamrom. “This competition was an opportunity to test how those changes were working. I’m very satisfied with the positive feedback reflected in my results and with the achievement. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming European Championships to see if I can replicate and even improve on what I achieved here.”

Photo credit - Eckhard Frerichs

In women’s recurve, Mikaella Moshe (Maccabi Tel Aviv) delivered an impressive performance. Moshe finished the qualification round in tenth place with 577 points, and after a dominant first elimination match in which she dropped only one point, she advanced again in the round of 16, this time winning a decisive shoot-off. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated 6–4 by Germany’s Natasha Homer, who had placed second in qualifications, and finished the competition in fifth place overall.

Also representing Israel, Roy Dror (Kashatei Kochav HaSharon) and Ori Rozmarin-Berlad (Maccabi Archery – 21st Century) reached the round of 16 in men’s recurve. Eyal Roziner (Maccabi Rishon), Itay Shani (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Harel Mor (Maccabi Tel Aviv), and Niv Frenkel (Maccabi Tel Aviv) were eliminated in the first round.

The Berlin Open marked the first international competition in which four new female archers competed as members of the Israeli national team, following a successful talent-transfer program conducted by the Israel Archery Association in recent years. Ksenia Khodorovska (17th place, compound), Tohar Tamir (35th), Stefanie Kompaneitz (73rd, recurve), and Michelle Munitz (104th) competed for the first time at an international event wearing the national team uniform. Three of the archers previously represented Israel in rhythmic gymnastics, while one came from judo. The Archery Association is very pleased with their rate of progress and performances in Berlin, and believes that all four will play a significant role in the future generation of the Israeli national team.

Photo credit - Eckhard Frerichs