Big participation expected as Shanghai hosts stage two once again

It will be the second stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup next week in Shanghai, as the city once again hosts the second stop of the season.

The enormous Chinese city has been a regular host of the world’s best archers since the inaugural 2006 season – although not consecutively – and its scale is matched by the entries, with 320 athletes set to compete at the Yuanshen Sports Centre.

That’s an increase of 48 athletes across the four recurve and compound disciplines from last year’s edition, with an influx of Asian nations sending squads – including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia – likely in preparation for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games.

Brady Ellison (recurve men) and Emircan Haney (compound men) are the only two defending champions among the entries for Shanghai, with Korea’s An San (recurve women) and Mexico’s Mariana Bernal (compound women) not selected for their respective national teams this season.

You can watch the coverage from Shanghai next week live with a subscription to archery+.

Key information

What’s happening? The second stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup on 5-10 May 2026 at Yuanshen Stadium (qualifying and eliminations) and Pudong Riverside Financial Plaza (finals).

What’s at stake? Stage winners book a place at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Saltillo, Mexico.

Who’s competing? 320 archers from 44 countries.

What’s the story? With the Asian Games on the 2026 horizon, many Asian nations are taking advantage of Shanghai’s proximity. While the World Cup is a single-sport event, it offers emerging archery nations such as Kyrgyzstan valuable experience against world-class opposition as they build towards Aichi-Nagoya.

Event schedule

• Tuesday 5 May: Compound qualifying
• Wednesday 6 May: Recurve qualifying
• Thursday 7 May: Compound eliminations
• Friday 8 May: Recurve eliminations
• Saturday 9 May: Compound finals*
• Sunday 10 May: Recurve finals*

*Teams in the morning, individual final fours in the afternoon.

How to watch

Coverage of the first stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup will be broadcast worldwide by World Archery’s partners and stream live for archery+ subscribers.

Check local listings on BeIn (MENA), BeIn (USA), CCTV (China), Claro (Latin America), DigiCel (Pacific), Eclat (Korea), Globo (Brazil), POLSAT (Poland), RTVE (Spain), SETIndia (Indian subcontinent) and TRT (Türkiye).   

Live scores will be available on the World Archery website, with updates and highlights across World Archery’s digital platforms throughout the competition.

One eye on Aichi-Nagoya

There is little wonder smaller Asian nations like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia are sending their very best to Shanghai.

Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is five months away and, when it comes to continental events, few are bigger on the global sporting calendar within the Olympic cycle.

This year’s edition is particularly significant as the 20th Asian Games, and no archer from the continent will want to miss the opportunity to compete – let alone win – at such a landmark event.

As well as welcoming athletes absent from the first World Cup stage in Puebla earlier this month, Shanghai offers Asian squads the chance to test themselves against the elite and fine-tune their outdoor setups ahead of qualification events for Aichi-Nagoya.

With compound also on the Asian Games programme, traditionally recurve-focused teams like Japan are entering compound athletes in China – something they did not do at any World Cup stage last year.

New-look Korea

Now that the arduous, intense national team trials are complete, recurve archery’s dominant force, Korea, returns to the international circuit.

While the recurve men’s quartet of Kim Woojin, Lee Woo Seok, Seo Mingi and Kim Je Deok remains unchanged, there are three new faces in the women’s team.

Reigning world champion Kang Chaeyoung is the only returning member, with Lee Yunji, Oh Yejin and Jang Minhee replacing Olympic Champions An San and Lim Sihyeon, as well as Shanghai 2025 gold medallist Lee Gahyun.

How Minhee fares in China and for the rest of the season is particularly interesting.

At 27 and a former world champion, she is in her prime, yet next week marks her first appearance at a World Cup. On debut at this level, she will be keen to make an immediate impact.

Who’s competing?

Two of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup Champions are set to compete in China next week:

• Recurve men: Brady Ellison, USA
• Recurve women: An San, Korea (not competing)
• Compound men: Emircan Haney, Türkiye
• Compound women: Mariana Bernal, Mexico (not competing)

These are the top-ranked archers shooting in Shanghai:

• Recurve men: Marcus D’Almeida, Brazil (world rank: 1)
• Recurve women: Kang Chaeyoung, Korea (world rank: 1)
• Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (world rank: 1)
• Compound women: Andrea Becerra, Mexico (world rank: 1)

A total of 320 archers (93 recurve men, 78 recurve women, 81 compound men and 68 compound women) from the following 44 teams are registered for the tournament:

AIN, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hong Kong, China, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Türkiye, USA, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Competition in Shanghai begins with compound qualifying on Tuesday afternoon.