Turkey October 2008 Results Algarve - Portugal June 2008 Results Cyprus Qualification Round 16 May 2007 Results Cyprus Elimination Round 18 May2007 Results Portugal Picture Gallery Praque Picture Gallery 2006 Mexico Picture Gallery 2006 Cyprus Picture Gallery 2007 Turkey Picture Gallery 2008   Tournament Reports

Turkey 2008

I really, really enjoyed this trip and once again it was an incredible experience. The trip went very well in general. A fantastic all inclusive hotel was a great place to relax and focus your mind for the competition ahead and also when it all got too much there was a nice pool which we were allowed in for an hour a day or a free games room which included the regularly used pool and ping-pong tables. I feel that from the moment we left Gatwick there was a very positive and friendly attitude among the whole team.

First day was official practise. This is where we got our accreditations which let us onto the field. You are told your official targets for the competition and are allowed to practise on the main field. This is your last chance to check sight marks and spare bows. The next day is the first day of qualifying you shoot the two longest distances of your round, mine being a Ladies FITA (Metric 1). Cadets were up to shoot in the morning and the Juniors followed in the afternoon. I thought 70m went really well scoring quite well and I was in around 8th place. 60m came and I started to expect to shoot well rather than to sit back and shoot how I know I can so I started badly but gradually picked up as the distance came to an end. After a little bit of a disappointing long metric I sat down on the afternoon on my own for a bit and focused on what was ahead of me which I think sorted my head out ready for the next day.

The next day is the short metric of the qualifying round. Again cadets were shooting in the morning so nice early start. I feel I shot a couple of good ends at 50m and in general struggled to score highly but this didn’t affect my shooting as I just focused on shooting good shots. 30m was a struggle as it started to get dark and I think I was letting the peep sight drift out of line at full draw.

After Qualifying 20th I came into the head to head rounds the next day with a bye.
I felt confident in the individuals after shooting a 116 in practise then won my first match with a 115 against the Indian. I came up against the Russian with confidence and after being 1 point behind with a 57, I thought it was still possible. I felt the next 6 shots were great but unfortunately they all grouped high left. Meaning I was knocked out 113 to 117 I was happy with how I shot but was also very disappointed after all that work to go out in the second round.
I was convinced the next morning that we were going to do well in the team round. It was going well in practise and we came into our first match against the Russians so I was really ready to prove myself again and overcome my nerves. The shots felt good and I scored ok but it went to a 1 arrow shoot off. In this case each of the 3 archers shoots one arrow each and the highest scoring total of three wins. Our team won the head to head, shooting a 29 end against there 27 end. On my arrow I was nervous as I drew up but as I sat at full draw my mind started to focus more as I thought about the importance of the shot and the aim stopped dead still and the shot went off.

Bronze medal match was a great experience, knowing that all your family and friends are watching you. I had no nerves during the match and after shooting a 20 to start I felt confident but as I continued to shoot good shots I started to struggle to score well but I feel my mind was strong and kept it together so I am happy. It was a fantastic moment shooting in front of a crowd knowing everyone’s eyes are watching you. When we won all three of us were just ecstatic and once again it was incredible being on the podium collecting the medal and the trophy!

Jake

Portugal 2007

Hi Ho - it's a triple silver medal success for GB youngsters in Portugal
2nd July 2007
By Peter Jones

British juniors have won two individual silver medals at the European Archery Championships in Portugal, and a silver in the team tournaments!

Tom Barber finished second in the men's recurve cadet championship, while teammate Matthew Arnold was runner-up in the men's junior compound event.

Barber lost in his final to Tse-Darzhi Rygzenov of Russia by 108 points to 106, and despite the disappointment of slipping up on the last lap, it was a terrific performance and a thrilling run to the final. After a bye in the first round of the head-to-heads, he then saw off Simeon Schaaf of Germany, Aurelien Pela of France, Ukraine's Yevhen Marchenko and finally another French youngster, Victor Bresson, in the semis, before losing to Rygzenov in the final.

Arnold was the only British survivor from the opening head-to-head round, beating local lad Diogo Oliveira of Portuga.Lasse Boee of Finland was Arnold's next victim, followed by Pietro Greco of Italy, a win that set up a semi final match against Gregoire Fumeaux of Switzerland - with Arnold emerging triumphant 112-111. It set up a gold medal showdown with Turkey's Gokhan Ates, with the British finalist losing out by a point this time - Ates prevailling 111-110.

In the team championship, there was a silver for the trio of Matt Rudge, Jake Bunce and Matt Gardner, who lost out to Denmark in the final of their tournament.

Not surprisingly, the medal winners earned high praise from Team GB Performance Manager Barry Eley. "I am thrilled to bits for both lads in the individuals, that they've gone out to a major international championship and come home with medals - they've done fantastically well, and I speak for everyone when I say we're really proud of them.

"And what a fantastic performance in the team event too - a silver for the compound cadets was a great performance, and the lads should justifiably be as proud of themselves as we all are of them!

"But there were some very good performances throughout our squad, everyone did very well, and it is nice to know there is a great depth of talent emerging among our young archers. It all bodes very well for the future, and I congratulate everyone who represented Britain out in Portugal."

Results: Individual Championships - Recurve Junior Men: 22 Edward Spouge, 37 Glen Croft, 47 John Guiton; Recurve Cadet Men: SILVER MEDAL: Tom Barber, 12th Alec Wheeler, 19th James Mortlake; Compound Junior Men: SILVER MEDAL: Matthew Arnold, 17th George Fenton, 19th Tapani Kalmaru; Compound Cadet Men: 9th Jake Bunce, 14th Matt Rudge, 21st Matt Gardner; Recurve Cadet Women: 14th Sarah Smith; Recurve Junior Women: 34th Janesta Smith; Compound Cadet Women: 10th Kirsty Davies, 11th Rosie Smith. Team Tournaments - Recurve Cadet Men: GB 6th, Recurve Junior Men, GB 13th; Compound Cadet Men, GB SILVER MEDAL; Compound Junior Men, GB 8th;

Cyprus 2007

On the 13th May I joined the Great Britain Junior Archery team to travel to Cyprus to participate in the 1st leg of the Europa Cup.

We arrived in Cyprus after a 4 hour flight and arrived at the hotel later that day only to have time to sort out our luggage and have a dip in the pool !
Monday morning we had some practise at the field and then in the afternoon, a treat, we went to the beach and then back to the hotel pool !!

Tuesday we were at the practise field again and Wednesday was official practise day but at the stadium this time.

Thursday, the competition starts, I shot in the morning as my category is Gents Cadet Compound shooting a 60M FITA which is 6 dozen arrows all at 60 metres.
I scored 679 and was ranked 6th out of a total of 13 archers.

Friday was Head to Head matches, it is decided by 12 arrow match at 60 metres and the winner carries on to the next round. Being ranked 6th the day before I came up against Stefanos Sokratous from Cyprus who had ranked 11th the day before. I won this match scoring 115 out of a maximum of 120 against his 96.

My second match was now against Marc Remie from the Netherlands who had ranked 3rd the day before. After our 12 arrow match we had drawn 112 each so it would be decided on a 1 arrow shoot off, which like sudden death the best arrow wins ! We had both shot a 9 and therefore had to repeat the arrow shoot off for a second time, we both shot a 9 again......the third arrow shoot off would be decided on who was closest to the middle of the target where he beat me by approximately 6 cm !!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and as always learning so much from the experience.

Jake Bunce

Congratulations to Jake and good luck in Prague when you represent Great Britain in the second leg of the European Cup between 6-13 August! Finally, a recent picture to show - Jake shooting at Euronations in new all white England kit!

Jake Bunce

After the Head to Head rounds Jake was placed 27th position out of 37. He was quite pleased with the result. It has been really windy over there all the time they have been shooting !!

The three Compound Cadet Boys came 5th in the Team event yesterday.

The hotel they have been staying has a pool on the roof top and he played water polo one afternoon with the rest of the team, so sounds like he has been enjoying himself too !!

Details Date of Birth: 25 JUNE 1992 Home Town: Bristol Country of Birth: Great Britain

Profile

On the Shooting Line Praque	GB Team Praque
GB Team Prague	Juliska Stadium Praque
Mexico 2006	Mexico 2006
Cyprus 2007	Cyprus 2007
Cyprus 2007	Cyprus 2007
Cyprus 2007	Cyprus 2007
Portugal 2007	Portugal 2007
Portugal 2007	Portugal 2007