It was Senior Championship day on Sunday, with nineteen archers competing in five different categories over the course of the day. The competition was based upon a WA 18 round, with everyone except the Barebow archers shooting on a triple face target. The competition was run on strict time rules – 2 minutes allowed for each three arrows shot, with a buzzer/whistle denoting start and stop times. Dave Berry, who had volunteered to be timekeeper for the morning session, suffered a technical problem when the timing app on his phone refused to make a noise. Dave tried to cover the situation by saying ‘whistle’ which produced giggles from the shooting detail. Fortunately Joy Gough was on hand to provide Dave with a proper whistle and the shoot continued.
The Gents Compound division was always going to be a close contest. After two dozen arrows only 1 point separated Pete Mumford, Rhys Moore, Billy Lightfoot and Dave Moore. The next dozen still couldn’t separate Billy and Rhys who remained tied on 335, 2 points ahead of Pete, with Dave a further 3 points behind. A slight dip in form by Pete Mumford allowed Dave Moore to steal third place, but the trophy was going to go to either Billy or Rhys. With eighteen arrows left to go the top two were still tied, but a shoulder injury that Billy had picked up a couple of days earlier began to take its toll and he struggled to get his arrows away in the time allowed. Caught out with only 30 seconds to go Billy hurried a shot which went into the 9 allowing Rhys to take a 1 point lead. Both men put in identical last dozen totals of 113 which meant that Rhys could finally add the Indoor Trophy to his collection. Billy was disappointed to lose by such a small margin, but he had the consolation of adding 3 points to his pb for the round.
Joy Gough was once again the sole entrant in Ladies Compound. Hampered by having the sun in her eyes she did not shoot her best and she was glad when it was over.
With reigning Gents Recurve Champion, and hot favourite, Danny Cowin otherwise engaged, the competition was wide open. Ralf Mitchell, Peter Howland, Dave Berry (shooting in the afternoon session), Eric Lutes returning from kidney stone surgery and former Champion Josh Trafford all fancied their chances. This year however, several Juniors had entered the lists and James Hill, Toby Young, Jacob Brookes and Nathan Kinrade were all keen to give it a go. Since none of the Juniors had ever shot the round before, they were guaranteed personal best scores and could shoot without any weight of expectation. James Hill had the unenviable task of shooting in the morning session and therefore having to wait all day to find out where he had placed. James had made significant changes to his equipment – going up seven pounds in limb weight, longer arrows, new extension and clicker, so no one was expecting him to shine. As it was James, who had come second in the previous week’s Junior Championships, was destined to repeat the feat by coming second in the Senior Champs too. Eric found the lack of practice difficult to overcome and did not relish his ‘baptism of fire’ return to shooting. Peter Howland did not enjoy his shoot either and finished well down the order. It was not surprising that the youngest entrant, Nathan Kinrade, came in last, but Nathan shot with his customary good-natured focus and he put in a splendid half dozen total of 51 towards the end of the shoot. Josh Trafford had a couple of misses in the first dozen which put paid to his chances. He recovered enough to claim third place just 3 points ahead of Jacob Brookes who was one of only four ‘men’ to break 400 on the day. Ralf Mitchell who was there to enjoy himself, added a terrific 124 points to his pb to secure fifth place. Dave Berry another of the ‘walking wounded’ never found his mark and tired badly halfway through the shoot. The Records Officer was deeply appreciative of the little essay Dave wrote on his scoresheet to explain exactly why his shooting was so bad- she likes the personal touch. Toby Young also found the demands of the three spot WA 18 tiring, but his efforts were rewarded with an emphatic win, and Toby lifted his second Championship trophy in as many weeks.
Tilly Ashton joined Barbara Harris and her aunt Jane Berry in the Ladies Recurve. Jane had lost months of shooting due to illness and although she had recuperated under the Mexican sun, it was too much to expect her to take the title. Junior Ladies Champion Tilly Ashton found the challenge of the three- spot target very much to her liking and she mounted a strong challenge. Barbara Harris shot well in places and did just enough to retain her title.
Colin Moore and Chris Crompton went head to head in the Gents Barebow. Colin found his mark quickly but then a poor second dozen and a miss in the third seemed to have scuppered his chances. He recovered with a stunning six arrow total of 57 just as Chris lost focus and Colin found himself in the lead for the first time. Unfortunately, he could not hold onto it as Chris put in his highest dozen total of the day to take the title at his first attempt.
Results IoM Senior Championships: Gents Compound – 1.R.Moore 60/561/21, 2.B.Lightfoot 60/560/23pb, 3.D.Moore 60/552/14, 4.P.Mumford 60/549/16.
Ladies Compound – J.Gough 60/531/10.
Gents Recurve – 1.T.Young 55/475/10pb, 2.J.Hill 53/427/6pb, 3.J.Trafford 51/412/9, 4.J.Brookes 53/409/3pb, 5.R.Mitchell 46/376/8pb, 6.D.Berry 48/371/8, 7.P.Howland 48/346/6, 8.E.Lutes 44/340/8, 9.N.Kinrade 40/309/3pb.
Ladies Recurve – 1.B.Harris 58/489/13, 2.T.Ashton 55/456/9pb, 3.J.Berry 50/399/7.
Gents Barebow – 1.C.Crompton 60/438/6, 2.C.Moore 59/425/5.
Isle of Man Archery Club 