Preview: Barebow-focused 21st European indoor champs gathers in Bulgaria
The 21st edition of the European Indoor Championships takes place 17-21 February in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The last edition was held in Varaždin, Croatia, in 2024, although this edition is much larger with 318 athletes. The city has previously hosted the 2022 European Grand Prix among other archery events.
The biannual event is notable for featuring many of the world's best barebows, and some countries, like Great Britain, Serbia and Romania, have sent teams almost entirely consisting of barebow archers.
Last edition’s barebow men winner Gregor Dolar is not returning to defend his title, with bronze medallist and now World Games champion, Italy's Simone Barbieri likely the favourite in the men’s division, in the absence of Britain's Oliver Hicks.
In barebow women, Italian legend Cinzia Noziglia, after winning in 2022, lost the gold in 2024 to San Marino’s Kristina Maria Pruccoli. Both Noziglia and Pruccoli will return to action at the Kolodrum arena next week.
There is also a small but strong compound division at the competition including Nicolas Girard, Domagoj Buden, Mario Vavro, Martin Damsbo, Jean Philippe Boulch, Jozef Bosansky, Amanda Mlinaric and Elisa Roner.
Key information
What’s happening? The 21st edition of the European Indoor Championships on 17-21 February 2026 at the Kolodrum Arena. Plovdiv, built on seven hills, was the European Capital of Culture in 2019.
What’s at stake? Individual and team titles in compound, barebow and recurve in both U21 and senior classes.
Who’s competing? More than 318 archers from 28 countries.
What’s the story? The European indoor champs is one of only a handful of major target competitions to award barebow titles, and a lot of the attention at the event is on that category.
Schedule
- Tuesday 17 February: Qualifying
- Wednesday 18 February: Eliminations and team eliminations
- Thursday 19 February: Team eliminations
- Friday 20 February: Team finals
- Saturday 21 February: Individual finals
How to follow
Live scores will be available on the World Archery website and there will be coverage on World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.
Who’s competing?
Full entries are available online. These are the top-ranked archers shooting in Plovdiv:
- Recurve men: Matteo Borsani, Italy (world rank: 8)
- Recurve women: Chiara Rebagliati, Italy (world rank: 16)
- Compound men: Nicolas Girard, France (world rank: 3)
- Compound women: Amanda Mlinaric, Croatia (world rank: 8)
Competition at the European Indoor Championships starts on Tuesday.
