Former champions Douglas, Fullerton and Turner lead the way in Vegas
The Vegas Shoot got off to a strong start, with 72 men and 18 women shooting perfect 300s in the compound categories on the opening day of qualification at the Paris and Horseshoe Grand Ballrooms in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Former men’s winners Kyle Douglas and Mathias Fullerton, defending champion Bodie Turner and Gwangju 2025 Hyundai World Archery Champion Nicolas Girard all opened with flawless scores, each placing all 30 arrows in the X-ring, the central zone within the 10-ring.
“It was great – I had a good qualification,” said Girard. “I was very happy because the precision was there.”
“I did my best to maintain it until the end. I really love precision, and that’s what I focus on with every arrow. Today, it worked. I just stayed in the same mindset throughout.”
The Netherlands’ Mike Schloesser also posted a perfect 300, dropping just one point from the X-count with 29 arrows in the X-ring.
USA’s 20-year-old Morgan Rives led the compound women’s field among the clean scorers, with 27 10X.
Three-time European Champion and reigning Indoor World Series winner Tanja Gellenthien shot 25 10X, two more than India’s world number two Jyothi Surekha Vennam, as both finished inside the 300-point group.
Great Britain’s Ella Gibson, already a gold and two-time bronze medallist in the 2026 circuit stages, also featured among the leaders with 21 10X. World number one Andrea Becerra, the reigning World Archery Champion from Gwangju 2025, sat tied 19th on 299.
In the recurve men’s field, USA’s Brady Ellison and France’s Thomas Chirault, last year’s finalists, shared the lead on 296.
Brazil’s Marcus D’Almeida and USA’s Nicholas D’Amour followed on 295, while Mexico’s Matias Grande, the Merida Indoor World Series 500 winner, ranked seventh with 293.
In the women’s competition, Nimes and Taipei champion Victoria Sebastian led on 296, despite recording just seven 10X. USA’s Catalina Gnoriega and reigning series champion Casey Kaufhold were tied second on 294.
Mexico’s Angela Ruiz, who won her first Indoor Archery World Series title in Merida last month, sat fifth with 293.
The three-day Vegas Shoot serves as the seventh and final stage of the Indoor Archery World Series, with each archer shooting 90 arrows across the weekend.
Scoring continues on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Top seeds: After first day
- Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA; Thomas Chirault, France – 296
- Recurve women: Victoria Sebastian, France – 296
- Compound men: Kyle Douglas, USA; Mathias Fullerton, Denmark; Nicolas Girard, France; Bodie Turner, USA – 300
- Compound women: Morgan Rives, USA – 300
