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Host nation fighting for compound gold as individual finals set at Antalya 2026

22 May 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

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Hosts Türkiye will be busy on both finals days at the 2026 European Outdoor Championships, with both Hazal Burun and 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final Champion Emircan Haney reaching the compound gold medal matches.

Burun, who defeated Shanghai 2026 winner Lisell Jaatma and rising Danish star Sofie Louise Dam Marcussen on her way to the final, was clear about what lies ahead.

“At the 2024 European Championships, I won bronze in the individual category, so this competition has a special place for me,” she said. ”I trained a lot, mentally and physically.”

“Some matches were really hard, but I never gave up. I was determined to see it through. When you show resilience, there is no match you can lose.”

The 21-year-old won silver at this year’s Spring Arrows tournament on the same field.

For her opponent Tanja Gellenthien, a multiple medallist indoors and outdoors, the route to the final was even more challenging.

“Right now I’m still stressed, nervous and anxious,” said Gellenthien. “My bow didn’t show up. I shot with Sanne de Laat‘s spare bow all week and then my bow arrived last night, so I didn’t have time to shoot with it before the matches.”

“At that point I had gotten used to the other bow, so it was kind of a mess. Today was weird. But you can’t control what the other person shoots and all I wanted when I left today was to be happy with what I shot.”

For reigning World Cup Final champion Haney, who shot at least 149 points in every match, it was a near-perfect day.

“This was the most important competition for me this year,” he said. “Being in my own country was an advantage.”

“To reach the finals on a field I know this well was easy. To keep that calm within takes additional effort. Managing your emotions at a competition with such a high tempo is quite challenging and requires a lot of work.”

The 2025 Archer of the Year will face Poland’s Przemyslaw Konecki for gold.

Konecki impressed in qualification at the Puebla World Cup stage and eliminated both Nicolas Girard and Mike Schloesser on his way to the final, defeating the latter in a shoot-off after both shot perfect 150s in their semifinal.

The recurve women’s final will see AIN’s Nurinisso Makhmudova face Spain’s Elia Canales, one of World Archery’s ones to watch before the tournament and already a two-time major European finalist.

The recurve men’s gold medal match will feature the Netherlands’ Willem Bakker against multiple Olympic medallist Mauro Nespoli, one of Europe’s most experienced competitors.

Nespoli won the European Games title in 2019 but has yet to claim this championship, while Bakker is still searching for his first major outdoor individual title.

Expect something special on Sunday.