Elisabetta Mijno, multiple world para medallist, dominated the finals at the Nove Mesto 2025 European Para Archery Cup Leg 2, beating sixth seed Ziva Lavrinc in the final in straight sets with ends of 28,27 and 29.
“I am happy of course. It’s been a very long competition, a lot of matches – a good training for the World Championship. I try to keep it very simple to relax myself,” said Mijno.
It was a return to form for the Italian, who is still searching for an individual world or Paralympic title despite a storied career. Seeded top, she was only put under any pressure by her teammate Veronica Floreno, who briefly took the lead in their semifinal and would go on to take the bronze.
“I’ve never won the World Championship. I’ve won with the mixed team, but I don’t have an individual medal, so it’s time to do it. See you in Korea,” she said.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the tournament was world number one Harvinder Singh going out in the recurve men’s quarterfinals to Lukasz Ciszek, the veteran Polish archer who shot consistently against the Paralympic champion to win 6-2. Ciszek would go on to take bronze.
The men’s recurve champion would be Guillaume Toucoullet of France, many times a medallist on the para circuit, but taking his first big individual win since 2021. He beat Cameron Radigan of Great Britain 6-4 in a thriller of a final which saw Radigan level the match after Toucoullet was 4-0 up.
“The week was perfect for me. I worked a lot during the training also and for the final it was very good. We are a little small team for Gwangju, just two archers and good ones – myself and Maxime Guérin so we are good and prepared, said the Frenchman.
“It’s a good competition in Nove Mesto. I come here for a long time, so I like this field a lot.”
It was a frustrating second silver medal in a row from Radigan, who lost the final at the Rome leg of the tournament to Dhanna Ram Godara. Nevertheless, the Brit has been making serious waves on the circuit and will be going to Gwangju hungry for more than just a placing.
Jessica Stretton, the 2016 Paralympic champion, cemented her status as the British compound archer in form with a second win in a row after taking the title in Rome. She beat Eleonora Sarti 146-140 in the final, with ‘armless archer’ Sheetal Devi of India taking bronze.
Italy would end up winning the battle of the medal table, with India second and Great Britain in third, a reverse of the results from the Rome leg. Expect fireworks in Gwangju, scheduled to start 22 September 2025.
You can rewatch the finals from Nove Mesto on archery+.
