Brazil big winner as five countries add Paralympic quotas in Monterrey

Esdras Rocha celebrates winning the W1 men’s title at the Pan American Championships in 2021.

In addition to the continental champion titles, the para archers in Monterrey, Mexico, competed to win quota places for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at these Pan American Championships.

There were 10 spots available in total. The countries represented by the top two finishers in each of the recurve and compound open categories, and the winners of the W1 events, would all secure places at the Games. (Each country could only win a maximum of one spot per category.)

Brazil, a team that arrived in Monterrey with just one place, massively augmented its squad for Japan. 

The host of the most recent Paralympics added quota places in the recurve women’s and men’s open categories courtesy of Pan America Champion Fabiola Dergovics and silver medallist Heriberto Alves Roca. Brazil also took one in the W1 men’s event with Esdras Rocha’s individual win – and then a compound men’s open spot with Andrey de Castro’s second place.

“The opportunity to represent Brazil at another Paralympics is a dream,” Dergovics said. “It’s proof that I’m going in the right direction, and that my dedication and effort has paid off.”

The home-field advantage paid off for the Mexican contingent that, like the USA, added two quota places.

Emma Rose Ravish shoots during the Pan American Championships in 2021.

One of those spots for the States came when Lisa Coryell beat Rejane Candida da Silva in the W1 women’s final. It was a comfortable victory, 119 points to 89 in the blustering early morning winds, but a significant victory for an athlete who was fighting for her life in the hospital after heart failure and a COVID-19 infection just months ago.

“I didn’t come back from the dead to not make it to Tokyo. So that has been my motivation for the 10 weeks I was trying to decide whether to live or die,” said Coryell. “It means it’s worth all the work and all the heartache, and all the … perseverance.”

Chile’s Mariana Zuniga and Omar Echeverria of the home Mexican team won the compound open categories at these championships. Samuel Molina added a second para gold for Mexico in the recurve men’s open event.

Individual winners – para categories

  • Recurve men open: Samuel Molina, Mexico
  • Recurve women open: Fabiola Dergovics, Brazil
  • Compound men open: Omar Echeverria, Mexico
  • Compound women open: Mariana Zuniga, Chile
  • W1 men: Esdras Rocha, Brazil
  • W1 women: Lisa Coryell, USA

Paralympic quotas won in Monterrey

  • BRA flag Brazil: 4 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman, 1 compound man, 1 W1 man)
  • CAN flag Canada: 1 (1 compound woman)
  • CHI flag Chile: 1 (1 compound woman)
  • MEX flag Mexico: 2 (1 recurve man, 1 compound man)
  • USA flag USA: 2 (1 recurve woman, 1 W1 woman)
Omar Echeverria shoots during the finals of the Pan American Championships in 2021.

Quota by country – Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Accurate as of 26 March 2021 and the completion of the Americas continental qualification tournament. Changes marked in italics.

  •  Australia: 1 (1 compound man)
  •  Brazil: 5 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman, 1 compound man, 1 compound woman, 1 W1 man)
  • CAN flag Canada: 1 (1 compound woman)
  • CHI flag Chile: 1 (1 compound woman)
  •  China: 11 (2 recurve men, 2 recurve women, 2 compound men, 1 compound woman, 2 W1 men, 2 W1 women)
  •  Czech Republic: 2 (1 W1 man, 1 W1 woman)
  •  Finland: 1 (1 compound man)
  •  France: 2 (1 compound man, 1 compound woman)
  •  Germany: 1 (1 recurve man)
  •  Great Britain: 5 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman, 2 compound men, 1 compound woman)
  •  India: 4 (2 recurve men, 2 compound men)
  •  Iran: 6 (2 recurve men, 1 recurve woman, 2 compound men, 1 compound woman)
  •  Italy: 7 (1 recurve man, 2 recurve women, 2 compound men, 2 compound women)
  •  Japan: 4 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman, 1 W1 man, 1 W1 woman)
  •  Korea: 3 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman, 1 W1 woman)
  •  Malaysia: 1 (1 recurve man)
  • MEX flag Mexico: 2 (1 recurve man open, 1 compound man)
  •  Poland: 2 (1 recurve man, 1 recurve woman)
  •  Russia: 8 (2 recurve men, 1 recurve woman, 1 compound man, 2 compound women, 1 W1 man, 1 W1 woman)
  •  Singapore: 1 (1 compound woman)
  •  Slovakia: 2 (2 compound men)
  •  Sweden: 1 (1 compound woman)
  •  Thailand: 3 (1 recurve man, 2 compound men)
  •  Turkey: 7 (2 recurve men, 1 recurve woman, 2 compound men, 1 compound woman, 1 W1 man)
  •  Ukraine: 2 (1 recurve woman, 1 compound man)
  •  USA: 7 (2 recurve men, 1 recurve woman, 3 compound men, 1 W1 woman)
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