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Tim Jevsnik stuns the world's top two to claim Swiss Open title

1 November 2026

Lausanne, Switzerland

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Slovenia's Tim Jevsnik had spent the previous two days fishing and had no plans to compete at the Swiss Open Lausanne 2026. A last-minute phone call changed that. By Sunday, he had beaten the world's top two compound archers and walked away with the men's gold medal.

The world No. 8, who recently won the compound title at the Yankton 2026 World Archery 3D Championships, was drafted into the competition after teammate Aljaz Matija Brenk withdrew.

“Honestly, two days ago I was fishing and wasn't planning at all on coming here,” Jevsnik said. “There was one phone call that basically was like, ‘Oh, do you want to go? Because there's a spot, some guy is not going. Aljaž, my teammate, is not going.’

“I just went home for my bow and basically left for Switzerland. Normally I do every tournament, but I said to myself I was going to take a little break from that. But I'm glad I didn't.”

What followed was a run of narrow victories against two of the biggest names in compound archery. Jevsnik edged world No. 1 Mathias Fullerton 150-149 in the quarterfinals, ending the Dane's campaign after he had topped qualification with the only perfect 600.

He then produced another 150 to beat world No. 2 Mike Schloesser by a point in the semifinals before closing out the final with a 149-147 victory over Italy's Fabrizio Aloisi.

For Jevsnik, the title reflected a shift in how he approached competition. Rather than being content with reaching finals, he had begun to believe he could win them.

“I started believing in myself more that I can win. Not just that I can do finals well, or I can get to finals very often, I can also win them. That's the mentality that changed,” he said.

Beating Fullerton and Schloesser made the win even more special, but Jevsnik said the rivalry on the shooting line came with mutual respect and friendship.

“We're all really good friends. It's just everybody wants to win here, and I really respect both of them. So I'm really happy for today, that it turned out the way that it did,” he said.

Schloesser bounced back from his semifinal defeat to take bronze, shooting a perfect 150 to beat India's Priyansh.

Winning in Lausanne is becoming familiar territory for Switzerland's Keziah Chabin, who successfully defended his recurve men's title.

The second seed defeated France's Alexandre Desemery 7-3 in the final to retain his crown at the World Archery Excellence Centre, where he trains regularly.

“I feel quite good. A bit stressed and a lot of relief, so, yeah. I tried my best. The shaking is part of it,” Chabin said with a laugh.

The Swiss archer acknowledged that familiarity with the venue may have worked in his favour.

“I'm used to the hall. I'm training here every day, and it's been like since it opened, I've been here, so maybe it's - there might be an advantage, yeah.”

Chabin's next target is the JVD Open in two weeks, but he was not looking too far ahead. For now, his motivation remains rooted in the simple enjoyment of the sport and the desire to win.

“Because I like it. I like shooting, and I like winning as well. So, I guess that's a huge push,” he said.

That enjoyment of the sport also remains central to Moldova's Alexandra Mirca, who claimed the recurve women's title with a 6-4 victory over Switzerland's Olivia Doigo in the final. Doigo added another silver to her Swiss Open record after finishing runner-up in 2024.

Mirca, the 2026 European Indoor Team Champion, admitted she was surprised to come away with the title given the strength of the field.

“I'm happy. I'm surprised that with so many strong athletes here I could win, so for me it's a big present,” she said.

The Moldovan archer also spoke about balancing her career with family life as a parent, saying that managing both comes down to making time for the things that matter.

“I think when you like to do something, it comes naturally. I think all who have children, families, they have to part their time for family and for job, for shooting. I don't know, I have time for everything,” she said.

With the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games in mind, Mirca said she plans to continue preparing through domestic competitions.

Top seed Gaby Schloesser, who had led qualification with 586, narrowly missed out on the title after losing to Mexico's Angela Ruiz Rosales in a shoot-off.

With all finals across the elite, over-50 and under-21 categories concluding on Sunday, the Swiss Open Lausanne came to a close. The indoor action now moves to the GT Open in Strassen, Luxembourg.