China’s Li Jiaman wins Archery World Cup finals

On October 20, during the finals of the women’s recurve event at the 2024 Archery World Cup Finals held in Tlaxcala, Mexico, Chinese archer Li Jiaman made history by defeating India’s Kumari with a stunning score of 6-0. This victory marks Li’s first World Cup Finals title and makes her the third Chinese archer to claim this prestigious championship.

Prior to this finals, Li had already celebrated victory twice at World Cup circuit events. In the finals, she showcased exceptional form, overcoming Mexican archer Angela Ruiz 7-3 in the quarterfinals, followed by a 6-2 win against South Korea’s Jeon Hyeon-Young in the semifinals. In the final match, Li continued her dominant performance, decisively beating the seasoned Kumari to secure the gold medal.

At the age of 27, Li Jiaman previously teamed up with her compatriots to win a silver medal in the women’s team event at the Paris Olympics this year. Following her recent triumph, she joins the ranks of Zhang Juanjuan and Cheng Ming as one of the few Chinese archers to win the World Cup Finals.

After the competition, Li admitted to feeling a bit nervous at the start but felt her performance improved significantly after winning the first match. She mentioned that she didn’t focus too much on the final results throughout the process.

This final event also marked the conclusion of the 2024 Archery World Cup series, with the next series set to kick off in April of next year.