Preview: Can anyone stop Lopez from winning 10th World Cup?

Whilst it was unusual not to see Sara Lopez competing in the compound women’s Hyundai Archery World Cup Final last year, the Colombian’s absence meant that, for the first time in seven years, it was someone else’s trophy to take.

That ended up being Andrea Becerra, who became the first archer since Lopez to hold both the World Cup and World Championship titles simultaneously.

In Saltillo 2026, Becerra has the chance not only to defend her World Cup title but also to win her second trophy on home soil in Mexico.

But will home advantage be enough to stop the greatest compound women’s archer from lifting her 10th World Cup trophy?

And what about the six other archers in the field who could ruin Becerra’s or Lopez’s party?

At a time when scores in the discipline have never been higher, here are the archers who could stand in their way.

The compound women’s final in Saltillo starts at 14h00 local time on Saturday 12 September.

You can watch the live stream with a subscription to archery+.

Line-up

The top two seeds are listed in bold and will be placed at opposite ends of the bracket. A match draw will determine the positions of the remaining archers.

• Sara Lopez, Colombia (stage winner)
• Lisell Jaatma, Estonia (stage winner)
• Andrea Becerra, Mexico (stage winner, world number one)
• Ella Gibson, Great Britain (stage winner, world number two)
• Dafne Quintero, Mexico (host nation)
• Alexis Ruiz, USA
• Hazal Burun, Türkiye
• Katharina Raab, Germany

Bold prediction

Last season was dominated by the tit-for-tat contest between Becerra and Great Britain’s Ella Gibson, who exchanged the number one spot in the world rankings several times.

It was Becerra who ended the season with the coveted World Cup trophy in her hands, however, and she remains the number one compound women’s athlete after ending Gibson’s reign at the top, which lasted an incredible 1000 days.

The Mexican may not have been as dominant as last year, but she still has three major individual medals to her name, with silvers in Shanghai 2026 and the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, as well as gold in Antalya 2026.

Gibson, too, has had her own self-admitted struggles this season, particularly at the beginning. But, as she did during the indoor season by winning The Vegas Shoot, the Brit finished strongly, grabbing gold in the Madrid 2026 individual and mixed team finals with the help of Ajay Scott.

These two, along with the obvious Sara Lopez, are among the favourites, making for a fascinating contest whenever they face one another.

But Lisell Jaatma, the stage winner from Shanghai and one of the top seeds alongside Lopez, might have something to say.

The 2026 outdoor season has been her career-best at 50 metres on archery’s international circuit, with silver in Puebla and bronze in Shanghai, as well as her individual gold at stage two.

Jaatma emotionally revealed after her victory in China – her first individual gold at an international outdoor event – how she had battled back from an eating disorder to reach that point.

She is more motivated than ever, which makes her a dangerous proposition for Lopez and company.

European champion Hazal Burun, who beat Jaatma on the way to winning the European Outdoor Championships, is another to watch.