Andrea Becerra secures top seed once again in Shanghai

Andrea Becerra, who recently lost her world number one spot to Ella Gibson, reminded everyone in Shanghai that her return to the top might be imminent, as she secured the first seed in the compound women’s category at the second stage of the Hyundai World Cup.

Becerra narrowly edged out European Champion Gibson, with the pair tying scores at 711 points, the Mexican hitting three more Xs (30) than the Brit (27) to get the pole position among 43 competitors.

“I’m really happy. It was so close, so I’m just really excited,” said the 22-year-old. “I know Ella was shooting really similar, so it just came down to the Xs."

“I want to be on the podium, so we’re working towards that, and hopefully, this turns out pretty similar [to Central Florida].”

The achievement is familiar territory for Mexico’s Becerra, who also topped qualifying at the Central Florida stage one in April and held the number one seed at the Shanghai and Antalya World Cups last year.

Today, Becerra walked into the Yuanshen Sports Centre as the sole compound woman with a secured ticket to the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, having won her first ever World Cup individual gold in the USA last month. 

She did not rest on her laurels today, averaging 9.9 across the 72-arrow qualification round despite gusty winds. She revealed that her motivation is to reclaim the world number one spot in time for Nanjing.

“I think just being a little confident in my shot, trying to relax and enjoy,” Becerra added about the afternoon session. “We had amazing weather, a little different to Florida.”

“I’m really motivated, I want to rank first at the World Cup Final and be number one again, so that’s my goal at the moment.”

Recent history suggested that it was little surprise Becerra and Gibson would battle for the top seed, but hardly anyone expected India’s Madhura Dhamangaonkar to follow in third place.

Shanghai marks Madhura’s second World Cup appearance, her last being Medellin 2022, when she last competed outside of India. The 24-year-old was unsurprisingly buzzing with the result after the final end. 

“Because of my mental health,” Madhura responded when asked about her personal best of 708. “My mental was so strong today and I’m working on that. That’s thanks to my confidence the support from my coach and my psychologist.”

On the compound men’s side of things, it was business as usual for world number one Mike Schloesser.

Known as ‘Mister Perfect’, the Dutchman dropped an astonishing 37 Xs, making him one of two archers to shoot over 50 per cent of their arrows into the spider during the day.

Schloesser’s 714 score tied with former Asian Champion Kim Jongho of Korea and GT Open silver medallist Abhishek Verma of India, topping the list of 65 archers from 26 nations (with 64 qualifying for matches).

“This was a walk in the park compared to Florida, where it was a bit more windy,” commented the four-time Hyundai Archery World Cup Final victor.

“Stadiums are always a little bit tricky because the wind changes up a little bit, sometimes left, sometimes right. The speed of the changes varies, but other than that, it was an awesome day of shooting, and I’m really stoked about it.” 

Action in Shanghai continues tomorrow, with the compound team elimination matches in the morning, followed by recurve qualifications in the afternoon.

Top seeds: Shanghai 2025

Full results on the event page.

Compound men:

1. Mike Schloesser, Netherlands – 714 (37 Xs)
2. Kim Jongho, Korea – 714 (35 Xs)
3. Abhishek Verma, India – 714 (35 Xs)

26 archers shot 700+.

Compound women

1. Andrea Becerra, Mexico – 711 (30 Xs)
2. Ella Gibson, Great Britain – 711 (27 Xs)
3. Madhura Dhamangaonkar, India – 708 (23 Xs) 

12 archers shot 700+.