Brazilian world number one Marcus D’Almeida beat Santiago Arcila (Colombia) in four sets, shooting a perfect 30-point volley to close, to collect the South American Champion title on home soil today in Marica.
“It’s an incentive to have a competition at home – and it’s our job to aim for the podium. Today we managed to get that in both the men’s and women’s events,” said Marcus.
Teammate Ana Luiza Sliachticas took recurve women’s gold.
“The calendar is very long, there’s a lot of travel, so it’s very important to have this here,” continued D’Almeida, looking towards an international outdoor season that officially begins on Monday and peaks at the Paris 2024 Olympics, at which the 26-year-old will arrive a favourite.
Brazil collected a third victory in the compound men’s event courtesy Luccas Abreu.
The remaining South American titles went to Beatriz Aliaga (Peru) and Jacques Saintard (Chile).
Although Marcus has collected this regional title, it won’t solidify his world ranking lead much – as points are being awarded during tomorrow’s open finals. Marcus suffered a shock loss in that knockout, in the quarterfinals, to Oscar Ticas.
Perhaps a casualty of the crazy conditions this week in Marica – one day scorching heat, the next heavy rain.
“It changes quite a bit,” said D’Almeida. “But we always have to prepare for the worst. So if the best comes, that’s good, right?”
Competition concludes tomorrow in Marica with the finals of the world ranking event.
