Mariana Bernal achieved his first great achievement in compound bow shooting, after winning in the final between Mexicans Andrea Becerra in golden arrow, after a 147-147 tie in the Archery World Cup final held in Nanjing, China 2025.
In less than ideal conditions in Nanjing, shooting with a westerly wind and slight cold, both archers shot fantastically, earning perfect scores in the first three of the five sets, leaving the score at 90 each going into the fourth set.
Andrea Becerra had the advantage
The recent world champion in Gwangju 2025, Andrea Becerra, also expanded her impeccable precision in the fourth set, while her partner Bernal’s last arrow of the set was the first nine of the match. Surprisingly, it took 24 arrows for one to land on the outer yellow ring.
This advantage seemed to mean another gold for Becerra, considering that he has won practically everything important in 2025: Florida, Antalya (stages 1 and 3), World Championship, World Gamess of Chengdu 2025. However, consecutive nines in the last set and a 9, 10, 9 from Bernal prepared the tiebreaker (147-147). The couple lost tens, but Bernal, Florida bronze medalist, got it right at the top of the all-important X ring, while Becerra at the bottom of the 10.
- “I feel very happy, very lucky that life has given me this opportunity to represent Mexico at the highest level”said Bernal, 22, who could not contain tears of joy on the field. “I just feel very happy that all the effort I have invested has paid off.””.
Bernal hit the target
- “The wind was taking a lot of nines off me and I thought, ‘OK, just concentrate and be strong again.’ In the end, I was just focused on shooting a good 10; I just saw the X ring and thought, ‘That’s where you have to shoot, and I made it.’”
Becerraas in most current competitions, was the favorite to succeed at the Nanjing Olympic Museum, but we must not forget that Bernal had already beaten her teammate, this year’s world gold medalist. It was for the gold medal in the Merengue Cup in the Dominican Republic in June, with a result of 147-142.
Bernal has proven to herself that it can be done, and that gave her peace of mind before taking the stage in her successful return to the national team. In 2023 the Mexican suffered bursitis (an inflammation that cushions the shoulder joint), an injury that all goalkeepers fear.
His tendons were torn
- “My tendons were very thin and they broke,” he revealed. “There was a time when I couldn’t even hold a glass of water, so I had to do a lot of therapy. I went to the gym a lot and it was little by little, because I literally started from scratch, so to be here is just incredible, and to win? It’s a dream. To be at the top is incredible, but it’s how you get there that really defines you as a world-class athlete and person,” the champion pointed out.
After obtaining the bronze in Florida, the 2018 Pan American Championships and then the gold in the Merengue Cup always suggested that Bernal was a more than capable marksman. But after a couple of dizzying years, reaching the top of the podium in Nanjing marks her as a fighter, not just an archer.
Becerra, on the other hand, was upset after the medal ceremony, but she too leaves the 2025 outdoor season with her head held high, toward what she called the “best year of my life.”
