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The UK National Indoor Championships were held in Coventry at the weekend and twelve archers from the club travelled to the Ricoh Arena to take part. The Junior Championships were scheduled for Saturday 7th December comprising of a single Portsmouth round with competitors divided by age group and gender. The Senior Championship was held on the Sunday and was made up of a Fita 18 Triple face qualification round, followed by Head to Head shoot offs for the top 32 archers in each division. This comprises of a best of five, three arrow set format. Two points for a win, one for a draw, first one to six points wins. In the event of a tie at the end of five sets, the match is decided on a single arrow shoot off.
The junior challenge came from Aalin and Kirsten George in the Compound division and Bradley Layton and Charlotte Harris in the Recurve. Bradley, who had been having a dip in form, shot better than he had done for weeks and was pleased with his final score which saw him finish in 15th place. Charlotte Harris was not so pleased with her performance which was well below par for her. Charlotte finished in 13th place.
The George sisters fared better as might be expected from girls placed 1 and 2 in the Junior Rankings. Kirsten had a niggling shoulder injury going into the tournament but worked through the pain to post a score of 549 which was good enough for the bronze medal. Aalin, eyes fixed firmly on the trophy, put in a focused performance to take the title and lift the silverware. Her score of 565 not only made her champion in her age group but was also the highest female score of the day which meant she pocketed a second trophy.
The fortunes of the senior club members varied widely. Rhys Moore experienced something of a nightmare in the Gents Recurve and finished well down the field. Billy Lightfoot, shooting at the Championship for the first time, allowed nerves to get the better of him in the Gents Compound. A slow start scuppered his chances in a year when the standards were exceptionally high. Dave Moore put in a solid performance but was not at his best. Pete Mumford put in the highest score for the men but his final total of 559 was only good enough for 64th place which meant none of the men made the cut.
The Ladies Recurve saw Charlotte George, Karen Lott and Barbara Harris hoping to make qualification. Unfortunately both Lott and Harris had several misses and only Charlotte George made the cut. George breezed through the first round of head to heads but lost to Amy Oliver who represented the UK at the London Olympics in the second round.
All of the club’s female Compound archers made it into the elimination rounds. Joy Gough and Kirsten George went out in the first round. Aalin George made it to the second round but lost on a single arrow shoot off after her match was tied. Sarah Rigby was going strongly until she came up against Andrea Gayles who had put Joy out in the first round. Gayles proved too strong for everyone on the day and went on to take the title. Rigby was still in with a shout at the bronze medal and squared off against Ricky Bingham, a star of the British archery world. Rigby regrouped and swept Bingham aside 6 – 0 to take the bronze medal amid the deafening cheers of the Manx contingent.
On the home front five club members turned up on Sunday to shoot. Results were as follows: Gents Portsmouth – Recurve 1. Danny Cowin 60 505 8, 2. Bod Boland 60 481 4. Gents Compound – Colin Moore 60 542 10. Junior Recurve – Jack Tyrer 60 389 2. Rhubarb Challenge – Tony Hartley 60 467 10.
