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Misos takes first visually impaired major title in Gwangju

27 septembre 2025

Gwangju, Korea

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Cyprus’s Christos Misos is the new VI1 world champion, after defeating Ruben Vanhollebeke of Belgium in the gold medal match at the Gwangju 2025 World Archery Para Championships.

“It was a very, very hard job, getting here, a very hard job with my trainer,” Misos reflected. “The last set was tied, and I got that seven to get the win.”

The victory marks Misos’ first major title at world level, after multiple silver-medal finishes.

“It was our discipline that made it happen,” he added. “Just one arrow can make the difference.”

The 47-year-old took up archery in 2014 after losing his sight to a virus. He is Cyprus’s first visually impaired archer and also works as a coach and judge. Earlier this season, he made a breakthrough performance by winning the Rome 2025 European Para Archery Cup.

Visually impaired archers shoot over 30 metres using the set system.

The bronze medal in VI1 went to Craig Newbery of Australia, shooting with his daughter Jacqueline acting as spotter – the same setup they used in Pilsen 2023, where he won silver.

“Very exciting,” said Newbery. “I shot better today than I did yesterday. Today was a clean slate.”

“What’s next for me? Gold in Australia.”

The 2027 World Archery Para Championships will be held in Canberra.

The VI2/3 category also crowned a new champion: Nicholas Thomas of Great Britain. Third two years ago, he beat Kathleen Meurrens of Belgium, 6-4, to secure the title.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, to be honest with you,” he said. “I was very nervous up there. I know Kathleen very well – all the VI archers know each other very well – so it’s a strange sensation shooting against somebody you know so well.”

Meurrens had taken the lead after the third set, but Thomas closed it out with sets of 26 and 25.

The Briton succeeds fellow countryman Steve Prowse, who had won the last two VI2/3 world titles.

“It’s something I’ve worked really hard for the last couple of years. I’ve finally made it and I’m really, really happy.”

The bronze medal went to Mihai Bursuc of Romania, who secured his first world championship podium with a 6-2 win over Kim Sungmin of Korea.

Competition in Gwangju concludes on Sunday with the W1 and recurve finals. You can watch coverage with a subscription to archery+.