After two consecutive podiums, the possibility of a hat trick fades away Kristina Pruccoli, who stops in the quarterfinals at the European Indoor Archery Championships underway in Bulgaria. Before the competition, the San Marino athlete had included the British Victoria Semple among her possible opponents for the medals. In the end, it was, yes, an athlete from the United Kingdom who beat her, but one of her compatriots, Illaria Knibb, with a clear 6-0.
Yet Pruccoli’s morning had started off in the best way, after a qualification that had brought her a good fourth place in the bare arch but also a few regrets for some mistakes made in the middle of the session, which had made her slip behind the Italians. Nothing irrecoverable, indeed, for her who arrived in Plovdiv as the world record holder and among the favourites.
And in fact, in the round of 16 she beat the Lithuanian Ligita Puriene 6-2 (28-21, 25-21, 27-28, 28-25)shooting well. A performance which, however, she did not replicate in the quarterfinals, where she never got into the rhythm and the British player, after an almost perfect first volley, with 29 points out of a maximum of 30, then only needed a 26 and a 24 to overcome her in three sets. There was, therefore, no third act of the challenge between Pruccoli and the Italian Cinzia Nozigliawho was waiting for her in the semi-final and instead found and beat Knibb herself, returning to the final for gold.
Eighth place does not satisfy the San Marino rider, who set off with other ambitions, but there will certainly be new opportunities to attempt the assault on important podiums again. Now, returning from Plovdiv her focus will shift from bare bow to Olympic bow ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 qualifiersto chase a huge dream, a five-ring dream, chasing an Olympics which, for her who lives in Michigan, would be held behind her home.
