Compound women
Like Grande, world number one Andrea Becerra needed to pull off home heroics in Merida to pull herself into the compound women mix and she did just that when she beat Alexis Ruiz 148-147 in Sunday’s gold medal match.
What was more of an indication that she could be on top of the podium next month was her edge over former world number one Ella Gibson in the semi-final, the pair dropping 149s with Becerra getting the better of the Brit in the shoot-off.
Becerra – last year’s World Games and World Championship gold medallist – now leads that high-quality head-to-head 3-2 in all competitions, but third-placed Amanda Mlinaric [925] and the leader Alejandra Usquiano [1125] will no doubt be in her way as she looks to gain her maiden Indoor World Series title in Vegas.
The GT Open winner Gibson herself, however, moved up to second from third, with reaching the semis giving her 250 points and replacing Mlinaric in second.
She joins Usquiano in the 1000-point club but, like Becerra, has never won the international indoor circuit in the flesh – Gibson triumphed in the 2021 pandemic-inspired online edition – nor The Vegas Shoot, and will be desperate to add these accolades to her already stacked resume of achievements.
All the aforementioned have at least two gold medals at this season’s stops and, as archery is a consistency-based sport as much as anything else, keep your eyes on who drops and gains points from these four top archers in March.
