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Host nation fighting for compound gold as individual finals set at Antalya 2026

22 mai 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

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Hosts Türkiye will be busy on both finals days at the 2026 European Outdoor Championships, with both Hazal Burun and 2025 World Cup Final champion Emircan Haney making the gold medal matches in the compound competition.

Burun, who beat Shanghai champion Lisell Jaatma and new Danish star Sofie Louise Dam Marcussen on the way to the final, was clear about what lay ahead. “In the 2024 European Championship I won bronze in the individual category. So this competition has a special place for me,” she said.

”I trained a lot, mentally and physically. Some matches were really hard but I never gave up. I was determined to see the end. When you show resilience there is no match you can lose.” said the 21-year-old, who won a silver medal at this year‘s Spring Arrows tournament on the same field.

For her opponent Gellenthien, much decorated indoors and out, there was an even tougher route to the final. “Right now I’m still stressed, nervous and anxious. My bow didn’t show up. I shot with Sanne de Laat‘s spare bow all week and last night my bow arrived, so I didn’t have time to shoot with it before the matches,” said Tanja.

“At that point I had gotten used to the other bow, so it was kind of a mess. Today was weird. But you can’t control what the other person shoots and all I wanted to do when I left today was to be happy with what I shot,” said Gellenthien.

For the reigning World Cup Final champion Haney, who shot at least 149 in all his matches, it was a great day out. “This was the most important competition for me this year. Being in my own country was an advantage,” he said.

“To reach the finals on a field I know this well, was easy. To keep that calm within, takes an additional effort. To manage one’s emotions at a competition with such a high tempo, is quite challenging and requires a lot of work,” said the 2025 Archer Of The Year.

Emircan will face the Pole Przemyslaw Konecki for the gold; a man who impressed in qualifying in Puebla and took out both Nicolas Girard and Mike Schloesser on the way to the gold medal match – the latter with a shoot-off after both shot a perfect 150 in their semifinal.

The recurve finals will see the AIN's Nurinisso Makhmudova face Elia Canales of Spain – one of World Archery‘s ones to watch in the competition and twice already a major European finalist.

The recurve men‘s gold medal match will be between the Netherlands’ Willem Bakker and multiple Olympic medallist Mauro Nespoli, one of the most experienced European competitors of all.

Nespoli won the European Games in 2019, but has yet to win this title, while Bakker is still looking for his first big outdoor win.

Expect something special on Sunday.