Alejandra Valencia leads Paris qualifying with personal-best 680

Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia set a competition best of 680 points in qualifying on Tuesday morning to seed as the top recurve woman at the third stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Paris, France.

The 26-year-old submitted matching halves – 340 points for the first 36 arrows, the same for the second – to beat her previous best score for the 72-arrow 70-metre round by five. Valencia shot that record-675 at the Pan American Games in 2019. 

“It was difficult to aim right, but it was funny because you had to put [extra] attention on the target,” Valencia said from Charlety Stadium, where the weather has been erratic all week. “It was a good qualification for me.”

Valencia combined with Ana Vazquez and Aida Roman to win one of the last women’s team quota places available for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the final qualifier on this field two days ago. Mexico won the top seed in the qualification round of that tournament as well, establishing an encouraging tone for Valencia at this last major event before the Games themselves.

“I was super-focused on myself, on technique,” Valencia said. “I wanted to do what I didn’t do in the team qualification because I made some mistakes on Sunday. I think it was good.”

Valencia was joined by India’s Deepika Kumari (674) and Turkey’s Yasemin Anagoz (665) at the top of the leaderboard.

Gabriela Schloesser (Netherlands), Ankita Bhakat (India), Ana Vazquez (Mexico), Casey Kaufhold (USA) and Michelle Kroppen (Germany) rounded out the top eight.

Competition continues with recurve men's qualifications on Tuesday afternoon.

Top 8 seeds: Recurve women

1. Alejandra Valencia, Mexico – 680
2. Deepika Kumari, India – 674
3. Yasemin Anagoz, Turkey – 665
4. Gaby Schloesser, Netherlands – 664 (31 10s)
5. Ankita Bhakat, India – 664 (29 10s)
6. Ana Vazquez, Mexico – 662
7. Casey Kaufhold, USA – 661 (30 10s)
8. Michelle Kroppen, Germany – 661 (27 10s)