Just like that, the indoor season begins.
It was only a week ago that the Nanjing 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final closed archery’s premier international circuit – and the entire 2025 outdoor season.
Now, the sport’s other circuit begins, this time under the lights and roof of the new-look 2026 Indoor Archery World Series, starting with the Swiss Open Lausanne.
Previously, the competition culminated in the Indoor World Series Finals. But following a revamp announced in June, there will be no Finals this season. Instead, two new 250-point events – in Rio (Brazil) and Merida (Mexico) – have been added to the expanded calendar.
It is the third consecutive year that Lausanne hosts the opening leg, welcoming 305 compound and recurve archers from around the world to the World Archery Excellence Centre. There are also categories for over-50 and under-21 competitors.
The compound men’s field is arguably the most competitive event in Lausanne, featuring all of the world’s top four athletes – Mathias Fullerton, Mike Schloesser, World Archery Champion Nicolas Girard and Rishabh Yadav – while there are also notable names in the recurve events.
Reigning Indoor World Series recurve women’s champion Casey Kaufhold is in Switzerland this week, as is last year’s Swiss Open recurve men’s gold medallist Alessandro Paoli. His compatriot, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games runner-up Mauro Nespoli, is also competing.
