Who stood out in Saltillo? The best archers of the 20th World Cup Final

It was all change at the Saltillo 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final as the 20th edition of the sport’s premier circuit closer welcomed four brand-new champions.

Two of those made international history for themselves and their countries, with Nico Wiener of Austria in compound men and Marie Horackova of Czechia in recurve women becoming the first World Cup Final gold medallists from their nations.

Alexis Ruiz, meanwhile, won her trophy in peculiar circumstances in compound women, while Dhiraj Bommadevara showed he really is one to watch in the years to come.

Wiener also deserves a shout, but he just misses out on our top three.

The action in Puebla, Shanghai, Antalya and Madrid culminated in northern Mexico – but which archers stood out in the tour’s closer?

3. Dhiraj Bommadevara, India

Even before Saltillo began, Bommadevara was India’s standout archer of the season so far, which is an achievement in itself considering the far more experienced Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai and Deepika Kumari in the recurve ranks.

Coupled with his mixed team gold medal alongside Kumkum Anil Mohod, Bommadevara’s recurve men individual title in Antalya made him the only Indian at the Final. Across all four stages, he also never strayed outside the top 10 in qualification.

The emotions of his journey, which he had been on since he started archery 20 years ago, were let out fully at the Gloria Sports Arena.

But whilst the fiery passion showed there, Bommadevara displayed an icy coolness at Plaza de Armas. It was not the 2025 Asian Champion’s first rodeo on the tour closer – in fact, it was his third – but a steeliness in his eyes transpired to his shooting as he swept aside Berkim Tumer and Rio 2016 Olympic Games runner-up Jean-Charles Valladont 7-1, with the latter having defeated reigning champion Brady Ellison in the quarters.

That dominance carried him to the gold match, but his fighting spirit took him to the top podium. Against Japan’s Junya Nakanishi, he came back twice – first from 3-1 down, then from 5-3 down – to force a shoot-off.

A fine left 10 proved that this was someone determined not to let an opportunity for glory slip away. His less emotional celebrations afterwards, compared to his one in Antalya, signified an archer beginning to realise how good he is – rather than being surprised by it.

2. Marie Horackova, Czechia

For such a small country, Marie Horackova is bringing a lot of noise to Czechia through archery.

As she stated in her post-match interview, archery is even harder to cross over to the mainstream in Czechia due to its size and priorities in football, basketball and ice hockey. In Saltillo, however, the Berlin 2023 World Archery Champion faced almost the complete opposite in the form of Ana Paula Vazquez Flores and Alejandra Valencia Trujillo – two Olympic bronze medallists shooting in their homeland with one of the loudest sets of fans you will ever hear in an archery setting behind them.

The support for Vazquez Flores in particular – whose hometown Ramos Arizpe is a mere 10-minute drive up the road – was a sight to behold. You could not even hear yourself think in the call room, so goodness knows how it impacted them both on the shooting line.

Horackova revealed afterwards that it was tough, although enjoyable, as she faced the Mexican chants, songs and cheers back-to-back. Against Valencia it was even more impressive, though, as she dispatched her 6-0 – an athlete who has competed in nine Finals, whilst Saltillo was Horackova’s first.

Another dominant performance against Katharina Bauer, 6-2, capped a brilliant afternoon for her and Czech archery, with Horackova averaging 9.33 per arrow.

But those first two matches are what really made Horackova stand out in Mexico. She was very close to being number one on this list.

1. Alexis Ruiz, USA

Horackova had to battle the Mexican crowd, but Ruiz had to battle something much more serious: an exit.

That might sound a strange concept considering we are sitting here just under a week after she became the third USA athlete to win the tour’s compound women trophy, but there was a brief moment where Ruiz was one of the first ones to leave Plaza de Armas.

In a 143-143 shoot-off against the Shanghai winner Lisell Jaatma, both archers dropped close nines, but it still visibly seemed that Ruiz had gained those vital extra few millimetres to the spider, even maybe brushing the 10. To be precise, it was 40.99 millimetres to Jaatma’s 42.5, but the line judge accidentally raised the arm towards Jaatma’s target.

There was sheer bewilderment on the shooting line from Ruiz and legendary coach Mel Nichols, as well as behind it, as they swiftly filed an appeal form which was duly accepted.

Within a matter of 30 crazy minutes, though, Ruiz found herself on the field against none other than Sara Lopez – the compound women great looking for World Cup trophy number 10. Lopez was favoured to get 10 in Saltillo by many, so shooting against her would have been daunting for anyone, let alone going up on stage when your dream of lifting the same trophy had been momentarily shattered minutes before.

It was therefore just as much a shock when the Colombian couldn’t get an arrow on her bow’s rest and missed the resulting shot.

Still, you’ve got to beat what’s in front of you, and double Pan American gold medallist Ruiz did just that before defeating Dafne Quintero 145-144 in the final.

Ruiz called it an “emotional rollercoaster” and yet, even at its steepest drop, she was able to ride it out.

Of course, she was upset following the Jaatma match, but controlling her mind state even when the outcome eventually rewarded her is such a difficult skill. Ruiz didn’t let the circumstances affect her shooting, not one bit – a very inspiring run to gold.