Precision Under Pressure: Arco Narón Archers Break Into National Top Ten at Spanish Promises Grand Prix

The archery range at the Complutense University of Madrid became a proving ground for Spain’s next generation of elite talent this past weekend. At the II Gran Premio de España Promesas, two standout athletes from the Arco Narón club, Lúa Teijeiro and Paula Pérez, cemented their status as rising stars by securing positions in the national top ten.

For the Galicia-based club, the tournament served as more than just a competition; it was a validation of their developmental pipeline. Facing a deep field of the country’s best youth archers, Teijeiro and Pérez navigated a grueling schedule of qualifying rounds and head-to-head match play to leave Madrid with top-tier rankings.

Lúa Teijeiro’s Dramatic Path to Ninth

Competing in the Recurve U18 Women’s category, Lúa Teijeiro Aneiros entered the tournament with a steady hand. During the qualifying round, Teijeiro posted a combined score of 562 (274 in the first half, 288 in the second), which placed her provisionally in 11th place. While the qualifying score earned her a spot past the cut, it set the stage for a high-stakes bracket where every arrow carried immense weight.

The defining moment of Teijeiro’s tournament came in the 1/16 elimination round. Facing a formidable opponent from Zaragoza, Teijeiro found herself locked in a dead heat. After five intense sets, the match remained tied at 5-5, triggering a “one-arrow shoot-off”—the most nerve-wracking scenario in competitive archery.

With the pressure of a single shot, Teijeiro delivered. She pinned her arrow in the 9-ring, narrowly edging out her opponent, who hit an 8. That single point of difference propelled her into the 1/8 finals.

On Sunday morning, Teijeiro faced N. Aguado, a shooter from Cáceres who had entered the match as the 6th seed. The encounter was another battle of attrition, reaching a 4-4 tie. However, in the final three arrows, Aguado found a higher level of precision, closing out the match with a 6-4 victory. Despite the loss, the points earned throughout the bracket allowed Teijeiro to climb two spots in the final standings, finishing in a prestigious 9th place nationally.

Paula Pérez and the U15 Surge

While Teijeiro battled through the U18 ranks, Paula Pérez Díaz was making her own mark in the Recurve U15 Women’s division. Pérez opened the competition with a qualifying score of 558 (294 and 264), sliding into 12th place for the round.

Pérez showed a different gear once the match play began. In her 1/16 round against Madrid’s P. Montserrat, Pérez was dominant, securing a commanding 7-1 victory to advance. The win signaled that she was a legitimate contender for the podium.

The momentum hit a wall on Sunday morning during the 1/8 finals. Facing P. Martínez of La Rioja, the 5th seed in the round, Pérez struggled to find the center of the target. Although she managed to split two of the four sets, she ultimately fell 2-6. Much like Teijeiro’s trajectory, this performance was enough to elevate her final ranking, landing her in 10th place overall.

The Technical Edge: Understanding the Set System

For those new to international recurve archery, the transition from qualifying scores to match play can be confusing. Unlike the qualifying round, where the total number of arrows shot determines a seed, the elimination rounds use a “set system.”

In this format, archers compete in sets. The archer with the highest score in a set earns two points; if they tie, each earns one point. The first person to reach six points wins the match. This system is designed to prioritize consistency and mental toughness over a single high-scoring arrow, as a bad set doesn’t necessarily end the match—it just puts the archer behind on the scoreboard. This is why both Teijeiro and Pérez were able to fight through tight sets before the match was decided.

Full Team Report: Arco Narón’s Collective Effort

While the top ten finishes stole the headlines, the Arco Narón contingent brought a full squad to Madrid, experiencing the highs and lows of elite competition.

Lía Lage Pernas competed in the Recurve U18 Women’s category alongside Teijeiro. Lage posted a qualifying score of 490 (232 and 258), placing 21st. She successfully passed the cut to enter the 1/16 round, where she faced Tolmie from Menorca. In a tough outing, Lage fell 0-6, ending her tournament in 28th place.

The team also suffered a setback with Raquel Lorenzo Otero, who was forced to withdraw from the competition during her second series. Despite the withdrawal, the presence of multiple athletes at the Real Federación Española de Tiro con Arco (RFETA) sanctioned event highlights the club’s commitment to exposing their athletes to national-level pressure.

Key Performance Summary

What This Means for the Future

Finishing in the top ten of a national “Promesas” (Promises) event is a significant marker for youth athletes. These tournaments are often used by national selectors to identify talent for international youth squads and European championships. For Teijeiro and Pérez, proving they can handle the psychological weight of a shoot-off and the pressure of a head-to-head match in Madrid is a major step toward senior-level competition.

The ability of Arco Narón to place two athletes in the top ten suggests a strong coaching infrastructure in Galicia, capable of producing archers who can compete with the traditional powerhouses of Madrid and Aragon.

The next checkpoint for these athletes will be the upcoming regional qualifiers and the subsequent national ranking events sanctioned by the RFETA. As the season progresses, the focus will likely shift from simply making the top ten to breaking into the top five and challenging for the podium.

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