Preview: Could Premier League fitness make the difference in recurve men?

Last time out, at the Tlaxcala 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, Korea’s Kim Woojin capped a record-breaking Olympic year with yet another World Cup Final title – his fifth.

Woojin has politely declined his invitation this year, and for the first time since 2021, no Korean men are contesting the season closer. It leaves an open field packed with archers used to challenging for the very top spot – including Marcus D’Almeida, who won the stage in Antalya, and Brady Ellison, who qualified through his world ranking.

Both have won the World Cup Final before: Marcus in 2023 in Hermosillo, and Brady an astonishing five times – Edinburgh 2010, Istanbul 2011, Lausanne 2014, Odense 2016 and Moscow 2019.

Is Brady the favourite this time? Well, I said he definitely wasn’t a favourite in Paris, which turned out to be not the best call…

The top two seeds, courtesy of their world rankings, will be Baptiste Addis and Matias Grande – both entirely capable of pulling it off.

Finals for the recurve men in Nanjing start at 14h00 (local) on Sunday 19 October. 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 draw will determine the positions of the remaining archers.

• Baptiste Addis, France
• Matias Grande, Mexico (stage winner)
• Marcus D’Almeida, Brazil (stage winner, world number one)
• Brady Ellison, USA (world number two)
• Florian Unruh, Germany (stage winner)
• Kao Wenchao, China (host nation)
• Mete Gazoz, Türkiye
• Thomas Chirault, France

Bold prediction

Brady and Marcus last met in the gold medal match at the Lausanne 2014 Archery World Cup Final, which Brady won by a whisker in a shoot-off – after both shot nines.

We’ve seen Marcus perform brilliantly, only to fall just short in several major finals. But perhaps he’s finally put those demons to rest, with big wins this year including the Antalya 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup stage.

He finished third at last year’s Final in Tlaxcala and also won the Medellin 2025 South American Open Championships. Is it his time? As usual, if Marcus can be the best version of himself, he can beat anyone. But which Marcus will show up in Nanjing?

Brady has performed well enough to maintain his high world ranking but has exited at the quarterfinal stage in all four World Cup stages this season – losing in Florida to Mete Gazoz, in Shanghai to Baptiste Addis, and in Madrid to Matias Grande. All three of those archers will also be in the draw in Nanjing and hungry for a podium finish. It’s tricky to tip Brady for the win, but you can never rule him out. Ever.

Brady, Mete and Matias will all arrive in Nanjing straight from India after two intense weeks of match practice at the Archery Premier League – where Mete was the recurve star of the winning Rajputana Royals. Could that extra sharpness make the difference? With other Premier League internationals also in action this weekend, it might just prove decisive.

But who’s going to win? It’s far too close to call – though I’ve got a feeling Mete might surprise everyone. I’m excited to find out if I’m right.