The 48-year-old dead-eye first beat the compound men’s open world record for the 72-arrow ranking round, shot at 50 metres, by scoring 706 out of a possible 720 points, improving on his own previous best by one point.

He then posted a perfect score in his quarter-final clash against Antonio Tosco during matchplay, registering 150 from his 15 arrows to beat the previous world-best mark of 149, set by Swiss Philippe Horner in 2013.

The Championships also featured able-bodied competitors with Simonelli finishing fourth overall.

“I am very happy with this,” he said.

"The Italian Championships were the last event of the outdoor season and I could not ask for more.

“I had already reached 705 points during an inter-regional Championship this year.

"It's important to keep improving, as it means that I'm always competitive."

Simonelli missed out on a bronze medal at the tournament after losing to two-time Archery World Cup final Champion Sergio Pagni.

His performance though still closed a great year for an archer who won the 1998 world Para-archery title.

At the World Archery Para Championships in Donaueschingen, Germany, in August, he qualified for Rio 2016 in the compound men’s open division before taking a shot at his first world title in 17 years.

Despite losing to Korean Lee Ouk Soo in the final, he left the Worlds with individual silver, mixed team and men’s team bronze, and led the Italian men to a world record with a combined 2062 points in qualifying in the compound men’s open team event alongside Matteo Bonacina and Gianpaolo Cancelli.

“It was an intense season with international records and a quota place for Rio 2016,” Simonelli said.

“I'm very satisfied.

"I hope, next season, I will celebrate something important with my teammates in Brazil.”

As well as a successful record in Para competition, Simonelli has won three caps on the Italian able-bodied team at the Las Vegas 2012 and Nimes 2014 World Archery Indoor Championships, and at the Medellin 2014 Archery World Cup stage.



Related stories
August 2015: Gold for Czech Drahoninsky on final day of World Para Archery Championships as Great Britain claim podium sweep
August 2015: Russia claim six medals as World Para Archery Championships continue
August 2015: Simonelli rolls back the years to make compound final at World Para-Archery Championships
August 2015: Chinese mixed compound pair break world record to secure berth at World Para-Archery Championships
August 2015: Another world record at World Archery Para Championships as Russia break recurve men’s open mark