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Alvariño, Canales to lead Spanish recurve teams in 2023

03 avril 2023

Madrid, Spain

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Spain has named its recurve squad for the upcoming Hyundai Archery World Cup season – with the top team planned to attend the first, second and fourth stages.

Last year’s runner-up at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, Miguel Alvariño, leads the men, with Elia Canales heading the women.

“Everyone has worked so hard. We have a tough selection system and anyone who qualified through it would be able to perform internationally,” said head coach Elias Cuesta.

Spain’s most recent Olympians, Daniel Castro and Ines de Velasco, also made the squad. But Daniel will only appear at the first two stages of the circuit and be replaced by Yun Sánchez for the fourth, while Ines will shoot at stages three and four.

She’s also part of a full reserve team that will be sent to Medellin – the third leg of the tour – assuming the recurve women can win a full quota for the European Games at this week’s Grand Prix in Great Britain.

Two team invites are available. Spain is one of 12 countries competing for them.

Qualification for the next Olympic Games in Paris starts this summer at the Hyundai World Archery Championships in Berlin.

While Alvariño and Canales are locks for the championships, the four recurve archers that join them (two men, two women) won’t be named until after the results of the first few international competitions.

The team qualifying process is different this cycle. As well as in-competition quotes on offer, the top teams in the world rankings will also secure Olympic invitations.

Had this been the case for Tokyo, the Spanish men’s team would have gone – as the world number two – rather than just Castro.

“We’ll try to give our best in every competition, try and be at the top of the world ranking and then not have to depend on a single result,” said Cuesta, who represented Spain as an archer at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“I know what my athletes are capable of so when the season ends, others will be able to judge the results.”

Both Spanish recurve teams won their events at last week’s Spring Arrows in Antalya.