Qualification concluded on Wednesday in Winnipeg in all eight individual categories across the under-21 and under-18 age groups – and two young Turkish recurvers, Kutay Tek and Berkay Akkoyun, sat on top of the junior men’s field at the 2025 World Archery Youth Championships, ahead of all three men Korean archers.
“I feel so good,” said Tek, who led the field with 678, seven points ahead of his teammate. “This is my last under-21 competition. It’s perfect, I think.”
Tek won a team gold indoors in Samsun this year, while Akkoyun was European youth champion outdoors in 2022.
Scores across the board were not huge, in humid and windy conditions.
“I do a lot of training in wind like this. I didn’t know I’d ranked first. My goal? For me and Berkay to shoot the final together, shooting for gold,” he laughed.
Pole position in the under-21 recurve women went to Angela Ruiz, a team bronze medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The 19-year-old Olympian Ruiz was 15 points clear of the field.
“I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve done, and satisfied because it’s my last youth worlds,” said the Mexican. “Closing this chapter of my life like that is awesome.”
“I’ve been searching for a world title in a lot of competitions, and I’ve been getting better and better. It’s a great start. I’m going to just shoot and enjoy it.”
