Daniela Cecilia Campos Marzano (Photo World Archery)
There were a total of six gold medal matches on Sunday, but the greatest story came from the very first at the Santiago World Para Series.
Daniela Cecilia Campos Marzano swatted away world number two and tournament favourite Ziva Lavrinc 7-1 at the Peñalolen Training Centre, tying the first set 27 with the Slovenian before going on to convincingly beat her in the following three, 29-26, 26-23, 26-24.
In the second-smallest contingent of the competition – Junior Alexander Vargas Landeo the only other archer [para compound men] from Peru – she became the first Peruvian to medal on the inaugural World Para Series circuit.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I was nervous,” admitted Campos Marzano, who now has two golds to her name in 2026 following her victory at the Para South American Games. “It’s my first final in a Hyundai [World Para Series], at an event like this, and although I’d finished in the top 10 before, this was my first final. So, if I lost, I’d take silver; if I won, gold, so I tried to keep my nerves in check.”
“It always makes me very happy to see my fellow competitors from other countries, each one winning and each one representing their country, and I’m always happy to represent my country, Peru.”
“This is our first – our very first – medal at a Hyundai event, so I’m absolutely proud.”
In her own right, Campos Marzano is a highly talented and successful archer, having won the Para Pan American Games three years ago – also in Santiago – as well as bronzes at the 2024 Pan American Para Championships and the Chicago Americas Para Cup last year.
However, her form compared to Lavrinc’s in Thursday’s qualification round suggested that Santiago would be the Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist’s to lose.
Campos Marzano, 27, finished a humongous 56 points behind the top seed [578] after the 72-arrow round, getting just four 10s overall compared to Lavrinc’s 10, to make her the sixth seed out of seven competitors in the para recurve women category.
But when it mattered most, the roles had reversed.
It was the Peruvian who performed more consistently, averaging an arrow score of nine, whilst Lavrinc mustered an average of 8.33, with two sevens in the third set and a high five in the last set helping to confirm her second runner-up finish in 2026 – she lost the gold medal match at the Rome European Para Championships as well.
For Campos, Santiago represented making history for Peru in para archery, but for Jason Tabansky in the W1 men category, it was also about preparation for next year’s Para Pan American Games.
The majority of archers in Chile’s capital this week were unsurprisingly from the Americas continent, many of whom, like Tabansky, will likely feature for their respective squads in Lima 2027.
Although the American beat Czechia’s David Drahoninsky – the top seed of the tournament – 6-2, the Paris Paralympic champion viewed Santiago as something to “propel” him and Team USA forward.
“We’re off to Lima to discover a place I’ve never been to before, to keep thriving in what we’re doing and to keep moving forward,” said Tabansky. “I spoke to my friend Ryan [Lindstrom] and told him, ‘Look, let’s make sure this final, this tournament, propels us to achieve something even greater in Lima.’”
“That’s why we’re going all out for those places at next year’s Games.”
Before Lima 2027, there is one last stop of the World Para Series’ maiden season, which takes place in Dubai from 5-10 December.
Winners: Santiago 2026 World Para Series
- Para recurve men: Thiago Pinheiro da Silva, Brazil
- Para recurve women: Daniela Cecilia Campos Marzano, Peru
- Para compound men: Kevin Polish, USA
- Para compound women: Anastasia Dzhioeva, Russia
- W1 men: Jason Tabansky, USA
- W1 women: Sarka Pultar Musilova, Czechia
Mighty Marathas bounce back to claim Archery Premier League Season 2 crown
Mighty Marathas were crowned champions of the second season of the Archery Premier League after defeating Kakatiya Knights 6-2 in the final at the People’s Plaza in Hyderabad, India.
India’s recurve star Dhiraj Bommadevara shot an impressive 79 out of 80, while Dutch compound archer Mike Schloesser lived up to his nickname ‘Mr Perfect’ with a flawless 80 out of 80 to lead Marathas to their first title.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Marathas, who had lost to Knights in their final round-robin match on Saturday and again in Sunday’s first qualifier, before beating Prithviraaj Yodhas 5-3 in the second eliminator to earn another shot at the title.
“Believing in each other, keeping patience, and attack-attack-attack,” said Bommadevara when asked about the team’s comeback.
“To be honest, the truth is that we changed nothing after losing the first match, and that I think is the beauty of this team.”
The final began with both teams sharing the opening set 75-75 after Bommadevara delivered a 10 with his last arrow, while Knights’ Neeraj Chauhan finished with an eight.
Bommadevara continued his impressive form in the second set, shooting two inner 10s to help Marathas take the lead.
Knights fought back in the third, with Chauhan and Bommadevara both producing crucial arrows, but Marathas managed to share the set and maintain their advantage.
Needing to win the fourth set to force a shoot-off, Knights came under pressure as Nico Wiener, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Elia Canales and Chauhan all opened with nines.
Marathas capitalised, scoring 79 to complete the 6-2 victory, with Bommadevara sealing the title with an arrow in the inner X-ring – the inner most ring to determine the winner in a tie-breaker.
Schloesser’s flawless performance was another highlight of the final, having come into the team in place of Aman Saini ahead of the second eliminator.
The Dutchman shot 79 against Yodhas before completing a flawless 80 in the title match. Marathas also brought in Simranjeet Kaur for Alejandra Valencia during the second eliminator, a substitution that proved valuable in their comeback.
Earlier, Knights had secured their place in the final after edging Marathas in a dramatic first qualifier.
The teams were level after four sets before Wiener and Canales found the inner yellow ring in the league’s hit-or-miss shoot-off to seal a 2-0 victory.
Marathas then defeated Yodhas 5-3 in the second eliminator to set up their third meeting with Knights in two days – this time they revered the result to claim the championship.
Bommadevara was named the best recurve male archer of both the final day and the tournament, while Schloesser claimed the day’s best compound male award.
Canales was named the best recurve female archer of the day, with Prithika Pradeep taking the compound female award.
The tournament’s other individual honours went to Sangeeta (recurve female), Mathias Fullerton (compound male) and Alejandra Usquiano (compound female).
Organised by the Archery Association of India, the second season featured six franchises and 48 archers, including 36 Indian athletes and 12 international stars, competing in a mixed recurve and compound team format.
Rajputana Royals were the winners at the inaugural event in New Delhi last year.
