For some of the 458 archers competing this weekend in Strassen, it will be their first appearance on the 2026 Indoor World Series – and for others, their first time shooting alongside professionals on the sport’s biggest indoor circuit.
For compound archer Ajay Scott, however, it will be his sixth Indoor World Series appearance and his fourth time competing at the Guillaume Tell venue. But this season holds more significance than any before.
The 2023 GT Open was the Brit’s first senior international event – the first of 15 he has now contested (excluding Kings of Archery, the Lancaster Classic and other non-World Archery tournaments). He reached the quarterfinals there before being eliminated by current world number one Mathias Fullerton.
Not a bad debut at 20 years old. And two years on, Scott has more than found his footing.
His breakthrough arrived two weekends ago, when he won his first individual international title at the Swiss Open Lausanne – a competition he only entered after encouragement from teammate Kai Thomas-Prause. Scott defeated reigning World Archery Champion Nicolas Girard in a shoot-off after a 148-148 tie.
“I didn’t want to come in, do an okay score, get through one or two matches and then go home,” said Scott. “I wanted to get to the final and keep it going. For me, it was setting the tone for the rest of the season and knowing my level from the start.”
“Obviously, there were a few nerves when you’ve got the world champ behind you, drilling, and you think he’s going to shoot 150, but you must focus on yourself.”
“I didn’t really have anything in my head. I was just letting my body do the work and trying to keep my brain out of it, because your brain always messes things up.”
