The 16-year-old Bulgarian has worked with her coach, Vencislav Velikov, since she started the sport five years ago. Velikov, who competed at the 2011 World Archery Championships in Turin, sees good training and concentration as key to helping the next generation of Bulgarian archers improve their scores.
In Dakar, Kenderova’s goal is to shoot her best score and perhaps finish in the top eight.
She explains that archery now fills her free time.
“I spend all my free time shooting,” she said. “I love the sport and that’s all I think about.”
For these young athletes, that commitment means balancing training with school.
The other participant at the camp, Georgia’s Daviti Basiladze, has good memories of his first visit to Switzerland. He won gold at the second leg of the European Youth Cup in Sion in 2023.
“It was a good competition for me. I tried my best and won gold.”
At the time, aged just 13, Daviti was the youngest archer in his category. Competing against archers who were up to four years older than him, he went on to win the recurve under-18 men’s gold medal.
Daviti first picked up a bow at the age of four, but as he explains, it was mostly about fun.
“I wasn’t serious. I was just playing around. But six years ago I started shooting seriously and I’ve been trying my best since.”
