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Emircan Haney and Fullerton tussle for compound men top seed at Shanghai 2026

05 mai 2026

Shanghai, China

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Emircan Haney posing next to his final end of six Xs.

Priorities changed quickly for Emircan Haney as he dramatically took the first seed in compound men at Shanghai 2026 - the second stage of the 2026 Hyundai World Cup.

The defending World Cup champion from Türkiye was flawless after 36 arrows and was on course to break James Lutz’s recent world record of 719.

The beginning of the second half, however, spelled the end of that dream as he shot one nine and then another in the ninth end to bring his score to 538 from 54 arrows.

Still an obscene accumulation, but Haney’s focus swiftly turned to reclaiming the number one spot as it was Puebla [stage one] double gold medallist Mathias Fullerton’s turn to shoot perfectly in the second batch of qualification arrows.

Fullerton was therefore ahead, and the pole could have been the Dane’s, but a nine in the final end - only his third of the afternoon session - denied him top seed at Yuanshen Sports Centre for 717.

“The moment I saw that my shot had scored a nine, I immediately put that specific arrow out of my mind and shifted my focus entirely to my remaining shots,” said the Nanjing 2025 victor Haney, who shot five of his last six 10s in the X-ring to get 718. “That is how I proceeded through the rest of the round.”

“I came here with the intention of breaking the world record. I knew I was capable of breaking it. I arrived with that strong conviction - though I did encounter a few minor setbacks along the way.”

“I set a national record, and I’m absolutely thrilled about that. I plan to keep this momentum going and ultimately, I aim to cap off this competition by winning the gold medal.”

Due to the sheer length of the 72-arrow qualification rounds, rarely do they serve up the same level of magic that matches do - but today was different.

Emircan Haney aiming during qualification at Shanghai 2026.

Shanghai was sunny throughout, and just a slight swirl of wind in the Yuanshen Sports Centre made it near-perfect conditions, but there was still a noticeable gap between Haney, Fullerton and the rest, with third-placed Sebastian Garcia Flores of Mexico reaching 713 - his World Cup personal best - making it a tantalising duel at the top.

Haney was also the top seed at the opening leg of the European Grand Prix at the Spring Arrows last weekend, and the 25 year old athlete credited his training regime since Puebla for such a fine performance.

“I’ve been working much more intensively on my mental focus. During my training sessions, I specifically incorporated exercises designed to help me fully immerse myself in the moment, to give my absolute all to the task at hand while out on the field.”

“Competing here today has confirmed for me that my approach was sound - that I was indeed focusing on the right things. I intend to maintain this exact same strategy moving forward throughout the upcoming season.”

In compound women, USA’s Alexis Ruiz recorded her first-ever pole at a World Cup.

Ruiz came fourth at the 2026 Easton Foundations Gator Cup, where she admitted to being “disappointed”, but has seemingly bounced back, shooting 707 in Shanghai. She tied with World champion Andrea Becerra but pipped the Mexican to the top spot with five more Xs.

“This morning it just felt good [in official practise],” commented Ruiz who excitedly couldn't believe she'd poled at the end. “I even made a comment to my mum that today just kind of feels easy and that's not something that comes around very often.”

Competition continues in Shanghai on Wednesday, with compound team eliminations in the morning and recurve qualifying in the afternoon.