Italians lead barebow field on qualification day at Chengdu 2025
Italy’s Simone Barbieri and Cinzia Noziglia secured the top seeds in the men’s and women’s barebow fields after qualification concluded today at the Chengdu 2025 World Games.
As in the recurve competition, archers shot 12 marked targets followed by 12 unmarked targets, in the same hot and humid conditions that have persisted throughout the week.
Barbieri, silver medallist at the 2024 World Archery 3D Championships in Mokrice, dominated the men’s field with 371 points – finishing 28 clear of second-placed Erik Jonsson of Sweden, a three-time World Games champion (2001, 2005, 2022).
“There are no secrets, really,” said the 32-year-old. “It’s about staying relaxed. The course is fairly simple – the most difficult thing is dealing with the heat. I just tried to shoot each target in the same way.”
In the women’s competition, Noziglia took a big step toward a third consecutive World Games title, finishing 29 points ahead of France’s Alicia Baumert. Baumert and third-placed Fawn Girard of the USA, who both scored 310, had a shoot-off on the 50-metre target to decide second.
Noziglia – the dominant barebow archer of her era and a winner of every major field title – was fifth at last year’s World Archery Field Championships in Lac La Biche.
“I’m pretty happy,” she said. “My score wasn’t the highest, but it was enough.”
“Obviously, winning three times is important to me. But I just want to do my best. My objective is not just the gold medal. Still, it’s hard because my expectations for myself are very high!”
Simon Fairweather – the Sydney 2000 Olympic Champion – and Nicky Fairweather both impressed, placing third in the men’s and fourth in the women’s competition, respectively.
The husband-and-wife duo flying the Australian flag in barebow earned byes for the first pool matches on Saturday.
“I enjoyed the trickier targets, like the five-metre sharp downhill bunny,” said Nicky, who held second for much of the round. “On one marked target, they had moved the peg inside a hut on the course, so we had to shoot through a window, which made it very difficult to see the string picture.”
“I was happy with my shooting, although on a course like that I’d expect my score to be higher. You only get to shoot each target once, so it’s do or die.”
As in recurve, the top two seeds in each category receive a bye to Saturday’s finals – but must first shoot an exhibition match against each other on Friday. The winner will choose which half of the draw they want their semifinal opponent to come from.
Competition at the World Games continues with barebow eliminations on Friday.
Top seeds: Chengdu 2025
Full results on the event page.
Barebow men
- Simone Barbieri, Italy – 371
- Erik Jonsson, Sweden – 343
- Simon Fairweather, Australia – 340
The top two seeds receive a bye to the final four.
Barebow women
- Cinzia Noziglia, Italy – 329
- Alicia Baumert, France – 310
- Fawn Girard, USA – 310
The top two seeds receive a bye to the final four.
