Canadian National Team archer Mariessa Pinto moves onto the Cup of the Americas’ Women’s Recurve finals after defeating National Team teammate Stephanie Barrett 6-2 in a Tuesday morning matchup for the quarterfinals, and Argentinian Florencia Leithold in the semi-finals. Shooting from her club in British Columbia this was her first competition since the COVID19 lockdowns began in March.

“The nerves did get to me a bit, this is a completely new event type for me,” Pinto said in her post-match interview after the quarterfinals, “but I came through and was able to find my groove in the third and fourth set.”

With her win against her compatriot, Pinto went on to face Florencia Leithold of Argentina who upset three-time Olympian Aida Roman in their quarterfinal match. After a dominating match, Pinto emerged the victor in one of the fastest matches of the tournament, winning 6-0.

“I definitely felt much more confident and in control of this match off the bat,” Pinto said. With her victory she will go up against Columbian Maira Sepúlveda on Thursday, October 15th.

The Online Cup of the Americas is the first remote, online tournament that World Archery Americas has streamed on their Facebook page. Archers from all over North and South America were invited to participate in the tournament.

Qualifications for the Online Cup of the Americas took place in August with over 700 archers from 23 countries of World Archery Americas participating.

The top eight athletes in each category were selected to move into the live stage of the event, which are being streamed on the World Archery Americas’ Facebook page. Five Canadians advanced to the elimination round, with Rob Cox of Manitoba winning Gold in the Men’s Open Compound in September.

The schedule for the remaining Canadian Archers is as follows:

WHERE: https://www.facebook.com/WorldArcheryAmericas/
WHEN: Tuesday October 20th- Carolyn Lindner (CAN) v Patricia Layolle (BRA)