Historic Haul for Arcieri Bizantini at Italian Championships

The Arcieri Bizantini of Ravenna have cemented their place among the elite of Italian archery, securing a series of historic podium finishes across both indoor and instinctive disciplines. From the rugged terrain of the Parco Nazionale del Pollino to the precision-focused arenas of Pordenone, the club has demonstrated a versatile dominance that marks a new era for the association.

Mastery in the Wild: Success at the Fiarc Instinctive Championships

In late August, the Arcieri Bizantini traveled to Mormanno for the Campionati Italiani di Tiro Istintivo Fiarc, hosted by the Compagnia Arcieri del Lago. Set against the backdrop of the Parco Nazionale del Pollino, the competition tested athletes in one of the sport’s most demanding formats: instinctive archery.

Unlike target archery, instinctive shooting eschews sights and conventional targets. Instead, archers navigate woodland paths to engage life-sized 3D silhouettes, relying entirely on concentration and natural intuition. The event was a grueling physical and mental test, spanning four days of competition and nearly 30 kilometers of trekking through the park’s wilderness.

Claudio Malavolta emerged as the standout performer of the event, claiming the gold medal and the title of Italian Champion in the Senior Recurve Bow category. Malavolta’s victory was defined by remarkable consistency; he maintained scores above 300 across three of the four required courses, holding the lead throughout the entire competition.

Adding to the club’s success, Franco Zannini secured a bronze medal in the Senior Longbow category. Zannini’s podium finish represents a significant leap in performance from the previous year, where he placed seventh.

The Technical Grind of the Pollino Course

To understand the scale of these achievements, one must look at the structure of the Fiarc competition. The winners were determined by the cumulative score across four distinct types of courses, each presenting unique challenges:

• The Battuta: A specific starting or stationary phase.
• The Percorso: A standard course layout.
• The Tracciato: A mapped track.
• The Round 3D: Specialized 3D target rounds.

The combination of steep terrain and the requirement for high-precision shots without mechanical aids makes these results a testament to the athletes’ endurance and skill.

Precision Indoors: A Historic Run in Pordenone

While the Pollino event showcased raw instinct and endurance, the “Campionato Italiano Indoor 2025” in Pordenone highlighted the club’s technical precision. For the second consecutive year in Pordenone, the Arcieri Bizantini achieved a historic milestone, securing a total of three silver medals and one bronze medal—the highest number of national podiums in the society’s history.

The spotlight belonged to the women’s team, who overcame significant odds to challenge the nation’s top archers. The squad, consisting of Matelda Miolo, Donatella Domini, and Sabrina Bandini, entered the competition as the ninth and final qualifier for the Senior Women’s An team. For Domini and Bandini, this marked their first-ever appearance at an Italian championship.

The trio dominated the early stages of the competition, holding the top spot in the rankings until the final moments. In a heartbreaking conclusion, the team missed the gold by a single point, finishing with 1470 points against the winners’ 1471. Despite the narrow loss, the team earned a silver medal and established a new company record.

The Absolute Final Drama

The women’s team continued their momentum into the absolute title brackets. After comfortably navigating the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, they faced the defending champions, Arcieri delle Alpi, in the semifinals. In a major upset, the Ravenna-based team defeated one of the strongest squads in the country to reach the absolute final.

In the gold medal match, the Arcieri Bizantini fought until the end but ultimately fell to Arcieri Altopiano Pinè with a score of 3-5. Miolo, Domini, and Bandini walked away with the absolute women’s silver medal, capping off a dominant performance. Matelda Miolo also delivered a strong individual performance during the championships, further contributing to the club’s medal tally.

Key Takeaways from the National Campaigns

The recent performances of the Arcieri Bizantini highlight several critical shifts in the club’s trajectory:

• Diversification: Success in both 3D instinctive archery and indoor target archery shows a high level of training versatility.
• Emerging Talent: The ability of first-time national competitors like Donatella Domini and Sabrina Bandini to secure silver medals suggests a strong developmental pipeline in Ravenna.
• Consistency: Claudio Malavolta’s ability to dominate three out of four courses in Pollino underscores a level of consistency that is rare in instinctive disciplines.

For those unfamiliar with the nuances of the sport, instinctive archery is often considered the “purest” form of the craft, as it removes the mathematical calculations of sight-marks and relies on the archer’s internal sense of distance and trajectory.

With a growing roster of national medalists and new company records, the Arcieri Bizantini have transitioned from regional contenders to a formidable force on the Italian national stage.

For more updates on national archery standings and upcoming FIARC events, follow the official competition reports.

Do you think instinctive archery is the ultimate test of an archer’s skill, or does the precision of indoor target archery accept precedence? Share your thoughts in the comments below.