{"id":11531,"date":"2026-04-11T10:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=11531"},"modified":"2026-04-11T10:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:58:20","slug":"stephan-hansen-in-first-final-four-since-switching-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/stephan-hansen-in-first-final-four-since-switching-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephan Hansen in first final four since switching nations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stephan Hansen made it a memorable return to the World Cup as he secured a place in the compound men final fours at Puebla – the first stage of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His appearance in Mexico this week was his first on archery’s premier international circuit since Paris 2023 and the last time the Indoor World Series silver medallist reached the semifinals was at Salt Lake City 2018, which he eventually went on to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight years is a long time in archery however, with Hansen back then representing his birth country Denmark. Now, he is a member of the USA team since his switch was confirmed in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is the only American to shoot in tomorrow’s compound individual semifinals as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn’t have a lot of time to get fully ready because of Vegas, but it was the same for pretty much everybody,\u201d said Hansen, who defeated world number one Mike Schloesser via shoot-off at Parque del Arte before dropping a near perfect 149 against Fran\u00e7ois Dubois in the following 1\/4 round. \u201cIt’s fun to be back and fun to compete again in these things. I missed it a little bit. I always have a lot of respect for Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been shooting against each other for I don’t even know how long. I was lucky to beat him in Nimes, the last time we shot there with good scores but we have been competing against each other forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first match was hard too. Robin [Jaatma] shot really good, he had way more Xs than me but I had to clean it to beat him and with Mike, I dropped one early and then he gave me one back and then the shoot-off was a little windy for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s one of the guys that it always feels better to beat because he’s number one right now, it’s pretty satisfying,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst Schloesser has remained compound’s \u201cMister Perfect\u201d the last year by winning some of the many competitions such as the recent Vegas Shoot and Chengdu 2025 World Games – even with the distraction of being a new father – Hansen has been \u201cMister Consistent\u201d this indoor season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an impressive five month stretch, the 30 year old athlete won silver in the GT Open followed by gold at Nimes and then made it to the championship shootdown at Vegas coming fifth and finishing only behind Schloesser in the overall Indoor World Series rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hansen hasn’t stopped shooting at 50 metres in his absence from the World Cups though, but admitted he has missed being a part of the highs and lows the international premier circuit brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just didn’t really want to travel too much. Being on a team is cool sometimes and because of the last couple of years, I’ve just done my own thing,\u201d he explained when asked why he decided to step back. \u201cI didn’t have any responsibilities for anybody. My sponsor, Matthews, have helped me out a lot and they have been able to support me so I could do that by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing part of the team is kind of different because you have coaches and all of these things but it’s fun to hang out with other people and go to see the foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to shoot for Denmark, so it’s kind of weird to not shoot for them but I made a decision, you’ve got to stick with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could yet be a former Danish derby come the gold medal match should Hansen defeat Puebla’s number one seed Nico Wiener and Gwangju 2025 runner-up Mathias Fullerton overcome Tim Jevsnik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competition at Parque del Arte is now over as action in Puebla moves to Z\u00f3calo de Puebla for the event’s finals beginning tomorrow morning with compound team gold matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico’s Grande makes most of home advantage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matias Grande survived a tight shootoff before an emphatic 6-0 win in the quarterfinals to reach the recurve men final fours on home Mexican soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 21 year old archer began the morning session at Parque del Arte against reigning World champion Andres Temi\u00f1o Mediel, with the Spaniard’s lower-than-usual 26th seed making what is meant to be an easier 1\/16 round for seventh seed Grande that little bit more dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had to be on the ball from the very first arrow and after losing the first end 29-27, the Olympian went 28, 28, 29, 29 to beat Mediel 6-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that hadn’t been more dramatic for the nervy watching Mexican crowd, packed in the stands, Grande then was forced into winning a shoot-off against India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara, who was impressive in his own right, dropping two perfect 30 ends in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny archer can win, like it was not necessary to think maybe he’s [Bommadevara] good or not,\u201d said the 2025 Pan American Indoor gold medallist on his performance. \u201cI think we have both the same quality, but also I think the home soil helped me a little bit. The crowd fuelled me with a lot of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that I was appreciating that and also being very focused because sometimes all those emotions, maybe we do some bad things with a lot of emotions, even if they are good emotions, but I feel really good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have worked a lot for this moment and I feel very relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grande’s last match of the day, which booked him into Sunday, was a far more comfortable 6-0 against Aldar Tsybikzhapov, but a string of high quality scores from him and his fellow competitors on another beautiful day in central Mexico wasn’t a coincidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wind that has changed directions has caused problems for all archers involved this week but with it calming down just a tad and clear skies once again, there was a sharp increase in accumulative 150s in compound and 30-point sets in recurve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were however aggressive thunder and lightning storms in Puebla on Wednesday and Thursday night but luckily for all they have skipped the daytime and Grande was as appreciative of the fine shooting conditions as he was for the pre-World Cup camp in Puebla Mexico completed before Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think being a few days before the competition, it’s very important because we know the wind, we know where to aim.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso it didn’t rain, thank goodness. I think it’s better for everyone because I think a competition is great when archers are shooting good, like very top scores.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ended up 7th, but I think the air was struggling for more than one archer. Andres Temi\u00f1o Mediel is a world champion and he was ranked a little bit low.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe air was very strong, so it does that to the archers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grande shall face the defending World Cup Brady Ellison on Sunday and is looking to keep intact a rare unbeaten record in individual matches against the all-time great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world number three has defeated the American in their two encounters, one at Madrid 2025 – the fourth stage last year – which eventually became his maiden World Cup stage triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second gold on the circuit at home though would absolutely mean more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That enticing matchup takes place on Sunday before the first finals in Puebla which occur on Saturday, beginning with compound finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final fours: Puebla 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Recurve men<\/h4>\n\n\n\n