Italy’s Matteo Borsani and Germany’s Elisa Tartler have seeded top of the men‘s and women‘s fields after recurve field qualification concluded this morning at the Chengdu 2025 World Games.
Archers shot an unmarked round in the morning, then the same round marked in the afternoon. Conditions in Chengdu were again extremely hot and humid, and a towel was the most vital accessory for archers shooting today’s qualification.
But one rather more dramatic change had already been put in place; the original field course was supposed to include five targets deeper in the woods around Qinglong Lake Park. Shortly before the competition, these were moved to the main lake area due to the presence of venomous snakes.
The changes have made for a flatter, more open and less technical field course, which suits some archers more than others.
Tartler, a bronze medallist at the Birmingham 2022 World Games, qualified first of the 11-strong women’s field with 705, just edging out Denisa Barankova of Slovakia on 6-count, with defending champion Chiara Rebagliati of Italy in third place.
“I’m quite happy with the first place of course, it was a little bit difficult, but I’m very happy that in the end it all worked out,” said the German. “There were not many ups-and-downs, but it was quite a beautiful view, the park is really really nice.”
Borsani, who dominated the afternoon’s marked round said: “I feel really good about it. This morning I had a technical issue with my sight, but I shot really well this afternoon to make up for it. Scenery-wise it was a bit flat, but I enjoyed it.”
The 22-year-old Italian has form in Chengdu; he visited the Chinese city for the Chengdu 2021 Summer World University Games where he took a team bronze medal in target recurve.
