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Antalya 2026: Host nation triumphs as Türkiye take both individual compound titles

23 May 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

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The host nation Türkiye laid down a marker for its increasing dominance of international competition as Hazal Burun and Emircan Haney became the new European individual champions in compound at the European Outdoor Championships 2026.

For Burun, who finished with bronze at the last edition in 2024, it was an extra special moment; the first ever Turkish women’s European champion in compound, following in a lineage of recurve women who have won the title including Gulnaz Coskun, Yasemin Anagoz and three-time champion Natalia Nazaridze.

“I’m still so excited right now. I fought until the very end. I’m so happy that I won. This is what
I’ve been working toward, and we’ve been working toward it for a long time,” said Burun, still only 21.

“Becoming European Champion here in Antalya—that was the part of my dream. I set it as my goal, worked toward it, and achieved it.”

The 21-year-old led from the gun against Denmark’s Tanja Gellenthien, but the Dane fought back and pressured Burun’s nines in set three and four to level the match going into the last. Burun held her nerve to close it out and take her first major senior outdoor individual title.

For Haney, the reigning World Cup Final champion, expectations were perhaps even higher in his match with the 24-year-old Pole Przemyslaw Konecki, part of the team that took an unexpected gold at the Berlin 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships.

The pair were tied up in every set to finish 147-147. The shoot-off would decide; a nervous-looking Haney seemed to flinch on the line but stayed just strong enough to edge an arrow into the ten, where Konecki could only produce a bad nine, walking angrily off the stage.

Haney becomes the first Turkish man since Yakup Yıldız in 2021 to become European compound champion, also taking a bronze medal with the men’s team. The pairing of Burun and Haney were, however, edged off the mixed team podium after losing the bronze medal match to a Denmark team of Gellenthien and Mathias Fullerton.

Both reigning champions from 2024 finished on the individual podium; Mike Schloesser took bronze after beating Germany's Simon Moritz with room to spare, while Great Britain’s Ella Gibson did the same to Sofie Louise Dam Marcussen of Denmark.

The competition concludes with the recurve finals tomorrow. You can watch live coverage from Antalya with a subscription to archery+.