Roberval Fernando dos Santos, better known as “Tico”, is passionate about precise tools. His passion for creating and for details led him to work and be a designer of machines for the mechanical industry.

Sport has always been present in his life. After a few unsuccessful attempts at soccer and volleyball, Tico discovered that a perfect “machine” called Compound BOW was what he needed to unite his gifts. His detailed style made him a great connoisseur of this machine and that was the first step towards his perfect shots.

In 1989, Tico bought his first bow, but without major commitments and goals. In 1994, he started to frequent a pub called Rock'n Wood, where he combined sport with another great passion, music. In this environment he met some athletes and started to compete in open archery tournaments.

In 1995, Tico started his professional career and, in the first year, he was Brazilian vice-champion in the compound bow category. The talent was visible and his call-up to the Brazilian team was a matter of time and it happened in 1996, for the dispute of the Americas Championship, in Mexico City.

In 1997, Tico broke several Brazilian records and competed in his first World Championship, in the city of Victoria – Canada, where he achieved an unprecedented 8th place for Brazil.

In 1998, in a competition held in Havana – Cuba, in the elimination round, Tico set at the time the world record in the distance of 70 meters, scoring 176 points out of a possible 180.

In the 2005 World Championship, held in Madrid - Spain, Tico obtained an honorable 16th place.

Great achievements were yet to come. In 2006, the International Archery Federation (FITA) created a new competition: the Archery World Cup, which gave a great visibility to the sport in the world, as it has live broadcasts on TV and the internet. Composed of 4 stages, which take place in different countries, athletes classified between 1st and 16th place score points for the formation of a ranking. After the 4 stages, the 4 best archers compete for the grand final.

And it was at a stage of the World Cup, in the city of Antalya - Turkey, that the Brazilian national anthem was played for the first time in a world competition. Tico beat Dutch Peter Elzinga in the final, in an unbelievable dispute, where after 3 tiebreaking arrows, the Brazilian archer won by a difference of just 4 millimeters from the arrow to the center of the target.
 
In 2007, Tico managed to qualify for the grand final of the World Cup, after obtaining a 3rd, 4th and 9th place during the stages of the year. The final was in Dubai. In the semi-finals, Roberval lost to Salvadoran Jorge Jimenez by just one point on tiebreakers. In the bronze medal dispute, he took advantage by defeating Frenchman Sebatien Brasseur, and ended the season as the 3rd best archer in the world.
 
In 2008, at the World Cup, Tico was in 10th place in the Santo Domingo stage and in 2nd place in Croatia, which temporarily guaranteed him the 1st place in the competition ranking and also the current 4th place in the world ranking. After completing the remaining stages of 2008, Roberval dos Santos ended the year in 5th position overall.
 
Also in 2008, Tico had a great achievement in setting the new Pan American record for the Round Ribbon (competition played in distances of 30, 50, 70 and 90 meters). In the Americas Championship, played in Venezuela, the Brazilian established the mark of 1,403 points, being only the 17th athlete in the history of the sport to break the barrier of 1,400 points.
 
In 2009, Tico has high aspirations. And the year couldn't have started any better. In his second competition, the archer set the new Brazilian record of 1,406 points, now being just 8 points from the world record. His goal for the year is to qualify again for the grand final of the World Cup and play in the World Championship, which will be held in September in Ulsan – South Korea.
 
A primitive “machine”, used by native Indians in their hunts, became the object that that designer of industrial machines used to be the greatest Brazilian archer of all time and take the name of the national sport to the world.









 

 

 

 

 

by Marcelo Roriz