Italian archers dominated the first day of qualification across recurve and barebow at the Yankton 2026 World Archery Field Championships, leading in all four senior categories.
Nearly 250 competitors took to the courses for 24 unmarked targets on Wednesday in South Dakota, to be followed by a different marked course of 24 targets on the second day, before eliminations and finals.
Matteo Borsani, the World Games and European field champion topped the men’s recurve list with 363 the defending champion Roberta Di Francesco leading the women’s field on 347 after 72 arrows each.
Cinzia Noziglia, sometimes called the ‘Queen Of Barebow’ after winning an astonishing series of titles at major events in the last decade, has perhaps not been as dominant in the last three years. But in Yankton she put in a strong performance to just take the first day lead against teammate Eleonora Strobbe on 6-count, after both put in 340 to lead the 23-strong women‘s field.
In men’s barebow Matteo Uggeri led on 361, a point ahead of teammate and World Games champion Simone Barbieri. (In the under-21 category, Great Britain’s Oliver Hicks put in a score of 360 - just one point off the leading senior score – to lead his great rival and friend Ludvig Rohlin by 14 points at the halfway stage.)
It was a slightly different story in compound. It was perhaps not a big surprise to see Austria’s Nico Wiener, reigning World Cup Final champion, former target world champion and a multiple world champion in field and 3D competition, top the men’s compound field with 419, six points ahead of Italy’s Michea Godano.
In women’s compound Amanda Mlinaric, the silver medallist at the 2024 world field championships, led Great Britain’s Ella Gibson, the bronze medallist in 2024. The winner in 2024, Paige Pearce finished in 3rd spot after the first day.
Great Britain‘s Sophie Meering, the only recurve women representing GBR, finished in 2nd place on the first day, behind defending champion Di Francesco.
“The course was great. There was a lot of mud, some tricky shots.” she said. “The teal faces made it a lot more interesting in terms of gauging, as the lines are a lot fainter than on the black and yellow faces.”
“I feel I shot pretty good, it’s around my average for the year, so in the wet, with on/off rain and at a World Championship, I’m happy with it. I’m not going to do anything different tomorrow, just focus on myself, my process and one arrow at a time.”
The competition continues with marked distances for all competitors on Thursday, before the fields are cut and eliminations begin on the same day.
Qualification (unmarked): Yankton 2026
- Recurve men: Matteo Borsani, Italy – 363
- Recurve women: Roberta Di Francesco, Italy – 347
- Compound men: Nico Wiener, Austria – 414
- Compound women: Amanda Mlinaric, Croatia – 403
- Barebow men: Matteo Uggeri, Italy – 361
- Barebow women: Cinzia Noziglia, Italy – 340
