Photos by World Archery
SALTILLO, Mexico – Brady Ellison and Alexis Ruiz represent the United States this weekend at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, with the former heading south as the reigning champion in recurve men.
The draw took place on Thursday, with Ellison starting his defense against Jean-Charles Valladont (FRA) on Sunday morning. Ruiz faces Lisell Jaatma (EST) on Saturday afternoon in her quarterfinal contest. Official practice takes place on Friday.
Ellison’s World Cup Final win in Nanjing last year was the sixth such success of his long and storied career. He automatically qualified for the 2026 edition following victory in Puebla, Mexico in April and stage 1 of the Hyundai Archery World Cup.
Ruiz arrives in Saltillo as the world number five in compound women and with a 12-3 match record from this year’s international competition, which equates to an 80 per cent win record. Of the other compound women competing, only Sara Lopez (86 per cent) can better that!
Lopez missed last year’s World Cup Final, but the world number six has won the event a record nine times, including seven in a row! Andrea Becerra (MEX) claimed her first World Cup Final title in Lopez’s absence. She will also line-up in Saltillo, and as the world number one.
Ellison will be eager to repeat the feat from 2025 and win for a seventh time. He is the only former winner in the recurve men’s division but joined by an equally hungry field which includes 2020 Olympic champion Mete Gazoz (TUR).
The 37-year-old Ellison is the highest-ranked archer in recurve men, at number two. Gazoz sits at four, with Mathias Grande (MEX) at three and Dhiraj Bommadevara (IND) at number 10 in the world.
Ellison is featuring at his 15th World Cup Final. His first appearance came in 2010 when the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh played hosts. Prior to 2025, he had enjoyed World Cup Final wins in his debut year, as well as 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2019. The 2019 gold medal match was against Mauro Nespoli (ITA), who is among the eight recurve men in Saltillo. Ellison has won silver on three occasions and twice claimed bronze. In all, he has medaled at 11 of his previous 14 World Cup Finals.
Only Ellison (2010-2011) and Kim Woo-jin (2017-2018) have won back-to-back in recurve men. No archer in the division has managed to do that twice.
Ruiz made her debut on this stage in Moscow in 2019 as the top seed and world number one, and has also competed at the previous two (2024 and 2025). She won mixed team gold seven years ago alongside Braden Gellenthien.
Both Ellison and Ruiz were two-time winners in this year’s USAT Qualifier Series, with each securing gold at the Easton Foundations Salt Lake Summit and the Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic. Ellison also won the U.S. Open last month, which Ruiz was forced to miss after being involved in a traffic accident.
You can follow the scores and results from Saltillo, while also catching the live action with a subscription to archery+.
How to Watch
| DIVISION | DATE | TIME | STREAMING |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Compound women |
Saturday, September 12 |
2pm MT |
|
|
Recurve men |
Sunday, September 13 |
10am MT |
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