The 18-year-old took his second win after an unprecedented sixteen ends of shooting saw off a 30 strong field.
It was a long shootdown under immense pressure. "Once you get up there, you don't really realise how long you you're up there... it worked out well for me. I was definitely more confident this year than I have been, I shot really good, I had to shoot inside out X's to win it," said Bodie.
"The other win meant a lot, but this one means more. Just because I had to work so much harder for it. " he said. "Where do I go from here? Three times!" On Sunday afternoon in Vegas it was time for the long-awaited Championship Compound Open big show, in front of a crowd of 4,500 in the Planet Hollywood theater. Apart from the 'Lucky Dog' – who can either win outright or be sent back to (in this case) 30th place – everything is reset, and anyone can win. On the new stage, 'top and bottom' targets were on the bales, with the archers given preference via ranking order as to which one they would prefer.
The 30 archers shot in two lines, bottom first. After the first end, where the 'big' ten ring counted, the field two archers – 2011 runner-up Martin Damsbo and Luis Elumba – dropped away, with Elumba shooting a miss.
It was time for the business end of the Vegas Shoot, with only inner tens, touching the inner X-ring, scoring. The second end lost 13 names, including Kris Schaff, PJ Deloche, Nico Wiener, and Sawyer Sullivan – and the field was cut in half, with 15 archers left. All targets were moved to the centre of the bale and archers shot in one line.The third end saw Jimmy Lutz and Ace Coleman leave the stage, and nerves began to flicker across faces. But the fourth end only saw a single loss: Mexico's Sebastian Garcia, and it looked like we were settling in for a long session. The fifth end saw Tim Jevsnik of Slovenia wave goodbye along with Nick Kappers, and two thirds of the field were gone. The sixth end was clean across the board, with no archers dropped. In the seventh, Nick Ingham and Michael Allman from Idaho and Colton Green of New Mexico were out, leaving seven men on the stage. The eighth saw the 'Lucky Dog', Ojas Pravin Deotale, lose on his last arrow - he was waved off the big stage to cheers from the audience. The ninth end moved to sequential single arrow shooting; piling on the pressure and the drama – when Alabama's Matt Burns pulled a nine. Five were left - four of whom were previous champions (Mathias Fullerton, Bodie Turner, Christopher Perkins and Mike Schloesser). Frenchman Nicolas Girard - who had faltered in his first effort on the stage today in the Indoor World Series Finals - was staying right with them. The tenth end, and all five stayed in. It was the same in the eleventh, which meant that all five had now shot 300 30X on the stage. No one looked like they were going to crack and all were projecting strength. Bruce Cull gave a two end warning; that the fourteenth end would require 'inside out' tens to win – to cheers from the crowd. The twelfth end beckoned, and Mikey - who had looked the strongest of the five at several points, suddenly cracked with a 29. There were four left for the thirteenth end, but no change to the perfect 30s. It would be the first time that the Vegas Shoot had required the 'inside out' tens rule to complete the shoot, and a testament to how strong the final field was. In the previous Lucky Dog and $10k shoot-offs, most archers had switched to skinny arrows to take advantage. On this stage, only Fullerton had brought skinny arrows and a replacement rest, and immediately used them. So from the fourteenth end and on, only 'inside out' tens counted as tens. Girard nailed one on his first shot, and Perkins on his second. Fullerton's strategy to change arrows had not paid off, and the 2024 champion went out with a 27; a spirited defence of his title. He had gambled, and lost. What could be more Vegas? Girard, Turner and Perkins would make up the podium – but who would be on top? In end fifteen, Girard nailed an inside out ten, but so did Turner. Perkins could not make it happen, and the 2018 champion finished in third. End sixteen, with Turner and Girard left, saw Bodie produced a close – very close – inside out ten. But Girard could not respond, and this time it was enough. Bodie Turner, for the second time after his win in 2022, was the Vegas Champion. It was an evening of high drama and incredible skill, perhaps the most sustained skill ever seen at a compound open shootdown – and the strong feeling that it wouldn't be the last time we will see 'inside out' shooting closing out a Vegas Shoot.
Championship Compound Open Podium
Bodie Turner (USA)
Nicolas Girard (France)
Christopher Perkins (Canada)