Girard shoots perfect 600 as qualification completes in Strassen

Nicolas Girard, the reigning outdoor world champion, shot the first perfect score of the international indoor season – a 600 – during the final qualifying session at the 2025 GT Open in Strassen, Luxembourg, on Saturday.

A shaky last arrow nearly spoiled the run, but it clipped the line.

“The last arrow was a little hard, but it’s OK. More fear than harm!” said Girard. “I’ll try to keep up the momentum. We’ll see how it goes.”

Girard, who was profiled by World Archery following his world title in Gwangju, won bronze in Strassen last year and finished second at the 2025 Vegas Shoot. This time, he topped the leaderboard by two points ahead of Mathias Fullerton and Braden Gellenthien, who both shot 598 despite Gellenthien having officially stepped back from international competition.

Italy’s Elisa Roner, a two-time Indoor World Series Champion and last year’s bronze medallist in Strassen, led the compound women’s qualification on 598.

The top 32 archers in each category advance to matchplay, while the remaining athletes will compete in the second-chance tournament on Sunday. The cut for the compound men’s bracket fell at 588.

In recurve qualification, last year’s winner Lim Duna placed second behind Spain’s Elia Canales, while Olympian Roy Dror topped the men’s list.

Competition continues on Saturday afternoon and evening with individual eliminations down to the last eight.