Recent News
Leamington Juniors Collect Medals at Clophill
Bethany, Isobel, Michael and Caitlin
Four Leamington youngsters, all recurve archers, shot the annual Clophill Indoor Junior tournament last Saturday with considerable success. The competition involved the Portsmouth round of 5 dozen arrows at a 60cm target face over 20 yds.
9 year old Isobel Roberts, from Fenny Compton, scored 379, and although this was well below her personal best she won the under 13 girls competition. Clophill’s Ellie Roberts took second place with 351.
Isobel’s 13 year old sister Bethany, shooting in the under 16 girls event, had a disappointing day. Her score of 442 was well down on her usual score level, but she finished in fifth place.
10 year old Michael McCarthy was on excellent form finishing on 434, which put 25 points on his pb and earned him the silver medal in the boys under 12 section, behind Joe Ground (Thorpe Hamlet) 501.
14 year old Caitlin McCarthy matched her brother’s silver medal taking second place in the girls under 16 section with 504. The winner in this section was Sophie Cole (Chelmsford) with an excellent 558.
Success for Naomi at National Indoor Champs
Leamington’s top international Naomi Folkard put in an excellent performance last weekend (20/21 Feb) at the National Indoor Championships at Lilleshall National Sports Centre.
Archers shot the FITA 18 round of 5 dozen arrows at a small 3 spot face over 18 metres, which was followed by a head to head knock out competition for the top 32 qualifiers in each category.
Naomi qualified in first place with an excellent 570. Fellow Olympians Charlotte Burgess (Bruntwood) and Alison Williamson (Long Mynd) qualified in second and third places respectively with 567 and 558. In the head to head elimination rounds of 12 arrow matches, Naomi was the highest scoring archer in every round up to the gold final. She beat Ashleigh McCloud (LoughboroughUniv) 114 to 88, Jenna Derraven (Gwent) 114 to 111, Emma Downie (Edinburgh Univ) 115 to 107, and Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) 115 to111. This brought her into the gold medal match against Burgess, which finished 110 to 113. Although disappointed with second place, Folkard was pleased with her day’s shooting as she was using new equipment and has recently made changes in shooting technique in preparation for the coming outdoor season.
Andy Rikunenko (Redditch) who also shoots at Leamington came second in the men's compound competition, behind Chris White (Rugby).
Leamington archers in Leicestershire
Three Leamington archers took part in the Leicestershire indoor championships at Oadby last Sunday (7 February). The shoot was also an open competition and all archers shot the Portsmouth round. Conditions were not ideal as there was no heating in the hall so, with near-freezing conditions outside, it was declared inclement!!
Father and daughter, Paul and Isobel Roberts both shot, Paul scoring 549 to come 13th among the gents recurves, and Isobel came 7th in the junior lady recurves with 423. But surprise of the day came from novice archer Glenn Owen who came 15th (of 46) with an excellent 542, adding 40 points to his PB. Obviously one to watch!
Good Shooting at County Championships
Local archers put in some good performances yesterday at the senior County Indoor Championships held in conjunction with both the County and Regional Junior Championships, at the Harry Mitchell Sports Centre in Warley. The national record status event, involving the Portsmouth round of 5 dozen arrows shot at a 60 cm face over 20 yds, was well attended by West Midlands archers, and, although no records were broken, some good scores were shot.
The senior championship winners were, for the ladies, recurve Natalie Gee (Sutton Coldfield) and compound Janette Ross (Meriden) and for the men, recurve Brian Tustin (Leamington) and compound Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights, Birmingham). Ravenscroft set a new county record with 592, which is only one point off the current national record.
The junior county champions were Caitlin McCarthy (Leamington) and Jacob Vick (Meriden). Caitlin was 1st under 16 girl in the county championships and 3rd U16 girl in the West Midlands. Jacob was 1st under 16 boy in the county event and 2nd in the West Midlands.
Other local medal winners were Angela Cave (Leamington) 2nd recurve lady, Chris Earp (Leamington) 2nd recurve man, and Michael McCarthy (Leamington) 1st county and 3rd West Midlands boy in the under 14 sections.
Dowload the Full results here.
Leamington's Folkard Doing Well Indoors
Leamington’s Olympic archer Naomi Folkard has been maintaining competition practice indoors over the indoor season, with good results.
Last month she won the Welland Valley FITA 18 (5 dozen arrows at 40cm 3 spot face over 18 metres) with an excellent 568. She also won the Sherwood Archers FITA 18 event with 567, ahead of fellow GB internationals Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) 533 and Michelle Kiddy (Dearne Valley) 526. In her second shoot at Sherwood, which did not count in the competition, Folkard scored 574.
Last week she competed in Nimes in a FITA 18 and head to head event, which was well attended by archers from all parts of Europe and USA. The competition was fierce with 150 recurve ladies taking part in Folkard’s class. She finished 13th, unlucky to go out in the 1/8 round to long time rival and eventual winner of the competition, Berengere Schuh, France.
Folkard has recently obtained sponsorship from Recaro, manufacturers of racing and child seatsRedhill's American Shoot
We have received the entry form for the Redhill American. This is a very nice shoot early in the outdoor season (3 May), suitable for most archers - maximum distance 60 yards, shorter for juniors. We usually have a good number of our archers attend this shoot. If you are interested in going you may download the entry form here
Folkard makes Strong Start to Indoor Season
Leamington’s GB international archer, Naomi Folkard made an excellent start to the indoor season last week, when she won the Droitwich Archery Society’s World Record Status combined FITA event, a FITA 18 (5 dozen arrows at a small 3 spot face over 18 metres) followed by a FITA 25 (5 dozen arrows at a slightly larger 3 spot face over 25 metres).
Folkard shot an excellent 576 in the first round, which set her up with a good lead over the opposition. Joann Lunt (Saints and Sinners) with 554 was lying second and Sue Davis (Redditch) 531 third. However Folkard with another top score, 577, for the second round increased her lead significantly. She took first place with a total of 1153. Lunt finishing on 1110, easily held on to second place. Betsy Johnson (Redhill) performed consistently throughout the day to come up into third place with 1048.
Folkard’s score, 5 points short of her own national record, was the highest of the day, beating all the men including the compound archers.
Archery features in Leamington's Olympic Mural
Youngsters at Lillington Youth Centre have prepared for the 2012 Olympics by creating a giant Olympic-themed mural to highlight the history and impact of the Games.
Covering two walls of the local Community Centre, it gives prominence to two local sportswomen, archer and double Olympian Naomi Folkard, and table tennis player Kelly Sibley, and also includes an historic archery scene depicting ladies in full length dresses shooting longbows. It took the young people several months to paint the mural, which was unveiled last week by the Mayor of Leamington, Balvinder Gill.
Leamington Archer tops UK Rankings again
In the recently published end of season national target rankings a remarkable 15% of the archers in the top 10 belong to Warwickshire clubs. Two of these, Chris White (Rugby) and Naomi Folkard (Leamington) actually topped the rankings in their category. The rankings are based on best scores over the season in 3 FITA rounds, 2 FITA 70 rounds and 2 Olympic round matches.
Chris White has topped the men’s compound rankings for the eleventh consecutive year, and Naomi Folkard has now headed the ladies’ recurve list nine times. For Naomi it is a particularly great achievement to stay at the top this year, as she has been working her way back into competition after shoulder surgery last December, and she is still shooting a bow of lower than usual poundage.
Naomi, with 5476, had a more comfortable lead over fellow Olympian and Athens bronze medallist Alison Williamson (Long Mynd) 5423.
Jonny and Hannah get married
Congratulations are due to club members Jonathan Hodgson and Hannah Ferguson. Jonny and Hannah were married at Our Lady of Victories Church in Market Harborough on Saturday 17th October, and celebrated with friends and family afterwards in Lubenham village hall. Several archers were present and on the dancefloor at the ceilidh and then the disco until late into the night!
Three Warwickshire Archers Have Eye On World Field
While the Warwickshire county team were competing in Shropshire, three of its top archers, with an eye to next year’s World Field Championships to be held in Visegrad, Hungary, in July, were competing in the Cheshire and Open Championships at Mouldsworth in Cheshire. Chris White (compound) from Rugby, Naomi Folkard (recurve) from Leamington Spa and Jon Shales (recurve) from ‘V Archers all opted for a weekend (10/11 October) of field archery on one of the country’s most difficult courses with the intention of getting early qualification scores for next year’s World Field Championships. All three performed well in the two day competition and achieved qualifying scores. Each day involved 24 target FITA rounds, with unmarked distances on Saturday and marked distances on Sunday.
In the ladies’ recurve event Folkard took a hefty 29 point lead on Day 1. With 351 points she was a ahead of former European Field Champion Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) 322 and Caroline Jobson (Mossley Hill) 306. With 332 on day 2 Folkard increased her lead to take gold with a total of 683. Oliver (642) finished second and Jobson (582) third.
In the men’s compound competition White took the lead on Day 1 with a superb 417, a new national record, and went on to win with a two-day total of 820. Shales came second in the men's recurve with 703.
The weekend scores put all three Warwickshire archers into contention for GB places in next year’s World Field Championships. All three are former medallists in World Field Championship events.
Top Performance by Warwickshire Archers at Regional Intercounties
Leamington archers were amongst the Warwickshire team who had a successful day (11 October) shooting at the West Midlands Regional Inter-counties match, despite the absence of some of its best archers.
The event was hosted by Worcestershire at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire. Each of the five counties, Hereford, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, was allowed to field up to 24 archers, with the best in each discipline making the teams: 5 men and 3 ladies in the recurve team; 2 men and 1 lady in the compound team and 1 man and 1 lady in the longbow team. All archers shot the 12 dozen arrow FITA rounds, 3 dozen at each of 90, 70, 50 and 30 metres for the men and 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres for the ladies. Weather conditions were good, although it was windy towards the end.
James Folkard (1174) and Brian Tustin (1150) were among the archers who won the recurve match. Warwickshire’s combined score of 9261 put the team well clear of Shropshire 9099, Staffordshire 9039, Worcestershire 8586 and Herefordshire (incomplete team) 2665.
Dawn Leide also shot but did not manage to make the compound team this time.
Successful Debut at Flight Shooting
Paul and Bethany in action at Newport
Three Leamington archers took a break from their normal target archery, and recently entered the regional Flight archery championships held in the grounds of Longford Hall Newport. Chris Earp, and father and daughter Paul and Bethany Roberts, competed in the oldest of the archery disciplines, where the objective is simply to shoot an arrow as far as posible. With no previous experience in flight, and competing against more powerful bows, and specially adapted arrows, the Leamington trio`s objective, was merely to enjoy the experience.
Picking up tips throughout the day however, from the more seasoned flight shooters, found the Leamington archers reaching respectable distances. The 50lb target bow category was easily won by Mike Willrich, who holds 16 world records, with a distance of 440y 2ft 3".
Paul finished in second place with a distance of 336y 0ft 11", and Chris was third with 292y 2ft 6". Not to be outdone by the adults, 13yr old Bethany,won both the 50lb and 35lb target bow classes, becoming the West Midlands junior lady champion for each.
Having whet his appetite, Chris then entered the National flight championships, held two weeks later on the RAF base at Church Fenton, Yorkshire. This time using his compound bow, and arrows he had adapted for the occasion, he was able to shoot an impressive 529y 2ft 11". This was only 19y short of the class winner, but in a closely fought group gave him 4th place. The longest shot of the day was by Tom Duncan, using a 60lb compound, who achieved 666y 2ft 11", or just over 1/3 of a mile.
Warwickshire Archers both take Silver in National Series Grand Final
Naomi Folkard & Chris White
Chris White (Rugby) and Naomi Folkard (Leamington) last weekend both took silver in the Grand Final of the new National Series held in front of a very large crowd on the terraces of Lilleshall Hall National Sports Centre,with the Shropshire hills as backdrop.
After the completion, over the summer, of the five rounds of the series, White who shoots compound and Folkard, a recurve archer, headed the points table in their disciplines. With only the top four qualifiers in each discipline going through to the Grand Final, and the lure of substantial prizes including $1000 for each gold medallist, competition was guaranteed to be intense. All of the Beijing Olympians (recurve archers) had qualified and some of the country’s top compounds. The head to head structure of the competition made for some exciting confrontations.
Each match involved ends of 3 arrows, each archer shooting in turn with 20 seconds per arrow. 2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw, and the first to reach 8 points was the winner. Conditions, particularly for the lighter recurve bows, were tricky, because of strong swirling winds.
White has put in some remarkable scores this year, only last weekend breaking the National record for the gents FITA with an outstanding 1415. He started well with an 8-4 victory in his semi final match against James Forbes (New Century Bowmen). This brought him into the gold medal match against Duncan Busby (Blackthorne Bowmen) who had knocked out clubmate Liam Grimwood in his first match. Both men shot superbly with just the occasional 9. The match was close throughout and went to 7 ends, but the honours in the end went to Busby 8-6. Grimwood took bronze.
Folkard’s first match was against Swedish number 1 and Edinburgh University student Jenny Jeppsson. Naomi won convincingly in 5 ends 8-2. However the wind was particularly difficult during this match and both girls shot some low scoring arrows. In her last end Jeppsson was unable to get one arrow off within the 20 second time limit and inevitably lost the end. The other ladies’ recurve semi final produced a surprise result when Charlotte Burgess beat fellow Olympian and Athens Olympic bronze medallist Alison Williamson. Burgess maintained her superb form and went on to beat Folkard 8-2. Jeppsson beat Williamson to take bronze.
Folkard said: “It was a brilliant event. It was fantastic to have top level competition on one’s doorstep and this is a great way to prepare for international competition. I am just very disappointed not to win.”End-of-Season Starlight Shoot
Once again we held our starlight fun shoot to mark the end of the out-door season. This year it was a proper starlight as there were no clouds and it was a beautiful, calm and relatively warm evening, enjoyed by about 30 archers. All archers shot 3 dozen arrows at the flood-lit targets which were set at 30 meters. As there was a significant number of novice archers this year we decided to shoot on the full size face, so scores were a little higher than in previous years.
Being primarily a fun shoot, the final scores were not too important but for those who like to know these things, the Ladies Recurve was narrowly won by Kathy Folkard with 327, 2 points ahead of Angela Cave, with Fi Kemp third on 317. The Gents Recurve was won by Malcolm Griffin with a fine 350 followed by Phil King on 338 and Brian Tustin on 331.
Tom Kemp scored 330 with his compound, Brian Fennell, 192 with his longbow, and three juniors completed the round; Ben Thompson (284), Annabel Thompson (248) and novice Paul Revill (217).
Not shooting were Dave Hyde, who took the line, Pete Hunnisett and Denis Folkard who hunted for arrows in the dark and James Scott who got the barbeque going.
After the shooting finished we had a very enjoyable barbeque, with food, drink and plenty of chat. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and it was heartening to see so many of our novice archers having a go. Interestingly there were equal numbers of male and female archers taking part this year.
Folkard wins Pioneering Ipswich International Event
Last weekend Ipswich gave the world its first look into the future by hosting the first major tournament to use the new head-to-head scoring system announced last month by FITA, the sport’s world governing body. A pioneering shoot giving a taste of next year’s international events, it attracted many top archers. It was the first open shoot in the UK to offer money and other prizes, the total value being in the order of £3000. Leamington’s Naomi Folkard won the ladies’ recurve event after a battle with five times Olympian and Athens bronze medallist Alison Williamson. A second Warwickshire archer, Jon Shales (‘V’ Archers) took third place in the men’s recurve competition.
The two day event involved a FITA 70 (6 dozen arrows at 70ms) on Saturday and head to head elimination matches on Sunday. The current system of 12 arrow matches was replaced with sets of arrows, for which there were 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for losing. In the early eliminations the higher scorer over 3 sets of 6 arrows went through, but in the quarter finals onwards it was the best of five sets of 3 arrows.
Folkard qualified in second place with 644, just 2 points behind Williamson (Long Mynd). In her semi-final match Folkard met the third placed qualifier, Abbie Fisher (Fakenham). She had a fairly easy win in 4 sets, 26 to 9, 27 to 8, 22 to 23, and 27 to 14, which gave her 6 points to 2. This put her into the final match against Williamson who also won her semi final 6 2. Williamson started strongly with a maximum score of 30 for her first set, which gave her two points when Folkard only shot 27. However, Folkard came back to level the score in the second set which she took with 26 to 23. The third set was tied 23 points each. Folkard went ahead in the fourth set getting 2 points from a 29 to 24 win. She got a further 2 points in the fifth and final set when she won 25 to 24. She therefore took the final match by 7points to 3. In place of a gold medal or trophy, the usual competition award, Folkard was delighted to win £100, a set of Easton X10 arrows and a Merlin adjustable ‘V’ bar mount.
Shales qualified in first place with an excellent 657, ahead of Tom Barber (Thorpe Hamlet) 648. Despite easy wins in the early head-to-head matches he lost his semi final match to fourth place qualifier, and eventual winner, Mike Peart (Deben) by 6 points to 2. However, in the bronze match he beat 19th place qualifier John Marcello ( (Braintree) 6 points to 4. He won prize money of £50, equal to the cost of the tournament entry fee).
Folkard said: “It was a great weekend, with valuable support from sponsors, and the event was well organised. It was good experience to try out the new format and I was in need of new arrows!”Brian Tustin wins Club Champs
A disappointingly small number of club archers turned out for the Club Outdoor Championship shoot this year. The weather was cool and dry, although the blustery wind was particularly tricky around the middle half of the shoot and kept scores down. However, those archers who made the effort had an excellent days shooting.
The only class to have a competition was the Gents Recurve shooting the York, which was won by Brian Tustin with a score of 1002, followed by Pete Hunnisett with 880, Paul Roberts on 812 and Chris Earp on 800.
Others shooting were James Scott (York, Compound, 1036), Angela Cave (Hereford, 772), novice archer Gordon Sharp (Bristol 3, 893) and junior Henry Scott (Bristol 3, 1040).
The shoot was combined with the Warwickshire County Senior Championships in which Brian won the Gents Recurve with Pete in 3rd place and James and Angela won their respective classes.
More medals at the County Clout
Eight Leamington archers took part in the Warwickshire County Clout Championship which was again combined with the Bowflights open clout. The double one-way clout took place on September 6 in warm, sunny conditions with a light wind.
Tom Kemp won both the open and the county competitions with a score of 159. Pete Hunnisett was second with 150. Brian Tustin was third in the county competition with 141 and fourth in the open. Also shooting the Gents Clout (180 yards) was Paul Roberts.
Shooting the Ladies Clout (140 yards) Angela Cave won the County trophy and was third in the open. Fi Kemp was second in the County competition. Also shooting the Ladies Clout were Angela Corrie and junior Bethany Roberts.
Club Success at Quantum Archers Windsor
Four Leamington Archers attended Quantum Archers' first open tournament on Monday 31 August. Although it was a rather small entry, the tournament was judged a success and all the Leamington archers came home with medals. All shot the Windsor round and Brian Tustin won the Gents recurve with a score of 866 followed by Denis Folkard with 840. Simon Stone won the gents compound with 932 and Kathy Folkard won the Ladies Recurve with 827.
The Leamington Summer Clout
23 August saw a warm, sunny day but with quite a headwind for the club double clout. About 25 club members turned out to shoot the clout at distances to suit all abilities and bow styles, the occasion being more of a fun shoot than a serious competition. We shot the first clout in the morning and then after lunch some of us did the second clout.
For those who are interested the mens clout (180 yards) was won by Tom Kemp in the morning with a score of 70 and again in the afternoon with a score of 82, giving him a total for the double of 152.
The morning session on the ladies clout (140 yards) was won by Angela Corrie with 48 and the afternoon session by Angela Cave with 68, which gave her the best score for the double of 101.
Best longbow in the morning was David Hyde with 21.
Folkard's Recovery Continues in Shanghai
Korea's Yun waits while Folkard shoots
Leamington archer, Naomi Folkard, put in an excellent performance last week in the World Cup Event in Shanghai. After surgery on a shoulder injury last December she is still shooting a bow of around 10lbs lighter draw weight than most of her opponents, putting her at a considerable disadvantage. Nevertheless Naomi finished in eighth place in a field which included most of the world’s top lady archers.
In the qualification round, a FITA round of 12 dozen arrows with 3 dozen at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres, Naomi finished in 9th place with an excellent 1332. The top three places were taken by Ok Hee Yun (Korea) 1388, Hyun Jung Joo (Korea) 1370 and Berangere Schuh (France ) 1360. GB team mates Alison Williamson and Charlotte Burgess were further down the field with 1300 (29th) and 1292 (40th) respectively. In the 12 arrow head to head knock out matches for the top 64 qualifiers, Naomi had a first round bye and then beat Gina Gonzalez (Mexico) 97 to 94 in the second round. This unfortunately brought her up against fellow Brit Burgess who had just shot well to put out the eighth qualifier Karina Winter (Germany). Naomi came out on top 103 to 99 which put her through into the quarter finals where she was to meet Yun, the top Korean. Yun produced the highest score of the event, a massive 116, and Folkard’s 98 left her in eighth place.
The British ladies qualified in eighth place in the team event. Having beaten Japan 203 to 197, however they came up against the formidable Korean ladies and bowed out with 208 to Korea’s 216. They finished in 7th place. Korea went on to take gold with Russia taking silver and Italy bronze.
Naomi has now returned to the UK after a month in the Far East where she also won the bronze medal in the field archery event of the World Games in Taipei. She said: “I am very pleased with the way my shooting is going. My scores are going up and I am now looking forward to the World Target Championships in Korea at the beginning of September. Although I am still using a relatively lightweight bow, I know that I can compete”.
Visitors come to shoot 'Warwick' round in Warwick
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Phil and Sandie Warnes from Rivernook Bowmen in Surrey last week came to shoot the ‘Warwick’ round in Warwick District with Royal Leamington Spa Archery Society as part of a project to shoot all the Grand National Archery Society’s imperial rounds in their place of origin or association.
The Warwick round of just 4 dozen arrows, with 2 dozen at each of 60 and 50 yds, with a family of longer and shorter distance rounds to suit all abilities, is believed to have originated at Warwick School. The round is particularly suitable for newer archers and for those who have limited time, but is not often shot in competition.
Despite the wet weather conditions over 30 club members turned out to shoot the Warwick round with their visitors and enjoyed a relaxed evening shooting.
Phil and Sandie were travelling on to York to shoot the ‘York’ round, and returning home via Stafford to complete the ‘Stafford’ round. They have already done some of the other imperial rounds and have others planned. Their project will conclude with the ‘American’ and ‘Vegas’, the centrepieces of a holiday in the States next year.Medals for Folkard and White in World Games
Naomi in action in the qualifying round
Warwickshire archers Naomi Folkard (Leamington) and Chris White (Rugby) will both be returning with bronze medals from the World Games held last week in Kaohsiung, Taipei. They were competing for Great Britain in the 8 man field archery team, Naomi shooting the recurve or Olympic bow, and Chris the compound.
The Games are held every four years for a wide variety of non-Olympic sports such as canoeing, squash, karate and rugby. The archery competition was over 3 days, set around the beautiful Chengcing Lake, with a 24 target FITA round over unmarked distances on the first day, a 24 target FITA round over marked distances on the second day and head to head matches for the top 4 archers in each discipline on the third day. Torrential rain made the first day's shooting very difficult.
Naomi finished Day 1 in third place but won Day 2 with a convincing lead to finish second over the two days assuring her of a place in the semi-finals. She lost her semi against Carol Ferriou (France), the eventual gold medalist, 51 to 48, but won the bronze medal shoot-off against Unruh 51 to 50. Jessica Tomasi (Italy) took the silver medal.
Chris White showed his class convincingly throughout the men’s compound competition and was unlucky to gain only the bronze medal. Having narrowly won both of the first two days he lost the first semi 63 to 60 and only won the bronze medal match after two single arrow shoot-offs.
Naomi who will be travelling direct to Shanghai for a target archery World Cup event said that although she was disappointed not to win gold she was pleased with the result. “I had surgery for a longstanding shoulder injury last December and I am still shooting a bow below my normal draw weight. My primary objective is to win a medal in the London Olympics and this is certainly a step in the right direction.”Win at Bradford increases Folkard's lead in National Series
Jenny Jeppsson, Naomi Folkard and
Alison Williamson at a recent shoot
A win last weekend at the Bradford world record status double FITA Star tournament puts Leamington’s Naomi Folkard at the top of the table in the new National Series event, and gives her an excellent chance of a place in the Grand Final at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in October.
The two day competition at Bradford involved shooting the 12 dozen arrow FITA rounds (3 dozen at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres for the women). Folkard proved that she is back to her best form following shoulder surgery. She followed a superb 1320 in breezy conditions on Saturday, with 1287 in Sunday’s more difficult winds, to finish first in the ladies’ recurve competition on 2607. Fellow GB internationals Charlotte Burgess and Amy Oliver were second and third respectively with 2540 and 2520.
In the National Series archers must shoot 3 of 5 specified tournaments to compete, and are awarded points according to their finishing positions, down to 16th place. The third event at Bradford put Folkard at the top of the overall standings on 85 points, 30 points clear of fellow Olympian Alison Williamson, who although she did not compete in Bradford, still lies in second place. The top four archers in each section after the five events will go through to the Grand Final.
Other Warwickshire archers doing well in the National Series are compound Chris White (Rugby) and recurve Jon Shales (‘V’ Archers). At Bradford Chris snatched a dramatic late victory from Welsh teenager Tapani Kalmaru, with James Forbes taking third place to bring his National Series tally to 71 points and maintain top spot. However, White’s victory brought him up into second place with 60 points. Shales, who did not shoot in Bradford, has dropped back from fifth place to sixth.
Folkard, White and Shales are all currently in Macau, part of the 8 man GB team preparing to shoot in the field archery competition in the World Games in Taiwan next week.Royal Show Have-A-Go raises Money for Club
Denis Folkard being thanked by
a grateful customer
For the last several years we have run a Have-A Go at the Royal Show at Stoneleigh Park to promote the sport of archery and to raise funds for our club.
This year we managed to get a much better position, right next to gate 2 and opposite the Countryside Ring which attracted more customers than in previous years.
The weather was rather wet on the first day, but improved as the week went on leading to record numbers of people having a go at shooting a dozen arrows at the targets in very warm conditions.
A fair number of club members gave up some of their time to help out (and have a look around the show at quiet times) and we raised a substantial amount of money to help towards the improvements we are about to make to our facilities. Our grateful thanks go to all who were able to help.
Good Performances by Leamington Juniors at Nationals
Henry Scott receiving his bronze medal
from John Wilson of the GNAS
Juniors from the Leamington shot at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire last weekend, in an annual event comprising a junior FITA Star tournament on Saturday with all of the 12 dozen arrow FITA and metric rounds, and the Junior National Championships on Sunday with the 12 dozen arrow York, Hereford and Bristol rounds. Youngsters could shoot distances appropriate for their age.
On Saturday the best performance by a Leamington youngster came from 13 year old Henry Scott . Shooting the Metric 3 round for under 14 boys he scored an excellent 1247 to win bronze. Henry’s score was a pb and a new club and county record. Henry was also part of West Midlands boys recurve team which won the regional competition with a score of 5017, ahead of Grand Western 4944 and East Midlands 4889.
Also shooting on Saturday were Caitlin McCarthy, 11th in the girls recurve Metric 3, and Michael McCarthy 11th in the boys recurve Metric 4.
In the Championships on Sunday Henry, shooting the Bristol 3, again performed well ending 5th with 1164 and again made the West Midlands mixed recurve team, which came second to Southern Counties.
8 year old Isobel Roberts put in an excellent performance to win the under 9 girls recurve Bristol 5 with 1164. She shot a six-gold end at her furthest distance, and raised her pb by 18 points. Her sister, 13 year old Bethany, shot the under 16 girls Bristol 3 and achieved a very creditable 1132 (a pb by 38 points) to finish 9th.
Also from Leamington on the Sunday were Caitlin McCarthy, 17th with 997 for the Bristol 3, and Michael McCarthy, 16th with 337 for the Bristol 4.
Another Good Performance for Folkard
Leamington’s Olympic archer Naomi Folkard had a break from the more serious competitive archery last weekend when she attended the prestigious competition, organised by the Royal Toxopholite Society, for the prizes given by the Worshipful Company of Bowyers at the Society’s shooting ground, Archers Lodge in Buckinghamshire. Attendance at this historic annual event (this was the 99th competition) is by invitation. Archers, including GB and England internationals were invited to join with RTS members to have a relaxed and enjoyable day’s shooting in very pleasant surroundings.
Archers shot the traditional 12 dozen arrow rounds – the York for the men and the Hereford for the ladies. – with 6 dozen arrows at the longest distances (100 yds and 80 yds respectively). Folkard, who is preparing for the World Games in Taipei later this month (field archery) and the World Target Championships in Shanghai in September shot well, showing that she making a good recovery from the shoulder surgery which kept her out of competition earlier this year. She won the ladies’ recurve award. Her score of 1224 for the 144 arrows included 109 golds. Former GB international Gill Newland was second with 1158. Folkard’s mum Kathy Folkard was happy to finish 6th with 1018.
Andy and Julie Rikunenko who shoot for Redditch, but are also members of Leamington, were competing. Andy, another GB international, won the men’s compound competition with 1264, and Julie was 5th compound lady with 1134.
Leamington Archers do well at Droitwich - 28 June 2009
Three Leamington archers took part in the annual Summer Albion Shoot at Droitwich and performed well. Archers shot the Albion round for men (3 dozen at each of 80, 60 and 50 yards) and the Windsor for ladies(60, 50 and 40yards), with shorter distances for juniors. The weather was very hot with a blustery wind.
After a closely fought match Chris Earp emerged victorious after a strong finish in the Albion on 828 with Paul Roberts, who had led in the early stages, third on 793.
13-year-old Bethany Roberts, the only junior shooting the ladies Windsor round shot an excellent 729, only beaten by 4 of the ladies.
Wins for Folkard in Second Round of National Series
Leamington was well represented last weekend at the Grand National Archery Society’s Summer Tournament at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre. The event which comprised a FITA 70 round of 6 dozen arrows at 70m followed by a ‘fun’ team event on the Saturday, and a 12 dozen arrow FITA round on Sunday, was also the second of five rounds of the new National Series, which will conclude with a grand final in October when some valuable prizes will be at stake.
In the Saturday event Leamington’s two times Olympian Naomi Folkard finished in first place with 635, ahead of Jenny Jeppsson (Edinburgh University Alumni) 627 and five times Olympian Alison Williamson (Long Mynd) 619. On Sunday, Folkard again headed the recurve ladies with 1305 for the FITA round (3 dozen arrows at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres). Williamson was a close second with 1302 and Jeppsson third with 1286. Folkard, still not fully recovered from a shoulder operation last December, was pleased with her performance: “I have recently been able to make another step up in the draw weight of my bow and my scores are continuing to improve”. In the inaugural leg of the National Series held last month at Evesham she took second place to Williamson, losing out in a final 12 arrow head to head match. However, the weekend’s result means that Folkard and Williamson now share the lead in the overall standings.
Folkard Selected for World Championships
Archery GB last week announced the team for this year’s FITA World Championships, to take place in Korea at the beginning of September. The team, determined after 4 days of selection shoots, will comprise the same six archers, including Folkard, who represented Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics. They will also be going to the fourth and final leg of the FITA World Cup tournament in Shanghai in August.
Folkard will be travelling to Shanghai direct from the World Games in Taiwan where she will be competing in the GB field archery team in July.
Leamington Archers Dominant at Stratford
Leamington archers turned out in force for the annual Whitbread Western tournament organised by Stratford Archery Club, and they returned with an impressive number of medals. The round was the Western of four dozen arrows at each of 60 and 50 yards. The gents recurve event was closely fought by Leamington archers Chris Earp and James Scott. Earp finished first with 798 points out of a possible 964, and Scott, was a very close second with 794. Other Spa club mates in the same class were Denis Folkard, 748, Paul Roberts 747, Phil King 746, Pete Hunnisett 714 and newcomer Simon Lapworth 596.
The ladies recurve event was won by Leah Innocent (Coventry) 772.
In the compound bow class, another newcomer to the Leamington club, Simon Stone, shooting his first tournament, was first with 836 points. Also shooting compound was Dawn Leide who was second lady with 814. Meriden’s Janette Ross won the ladies event with 828.
Leamington juniors also had a good day. Thirteen year old Bethany Roberts was first recurve girl shooting the adult distances with 627. Shooting the shorter junior distances were Henry Scott, first boy with 808, Ben Thompson, second with 689, and Annabel Thompson first girl with 768. Eight year old Isobel Roberts, the club’s youngest member, also shot scoring 630.
