It was the younger Club Members turn to shine on Sunday as the Hub played host to the Junior Indoor Championships. The round was the Portsmouth, and divisions were divided by age and gender.
Ethan Corran took the u18 Boys title unopposed to lift his first ever trophy. He put in a solid round, and it was a shame that he had a miss three arrows from the end which marred an otherwise goodlooking scoresheet.
The only direct competition came in the u18 Girls category which saw Lula Brown face of against newcomer Anastacia Schnetler. It was great to see Anastacia stepping up to the plate so early in her archery career and she acquitted herself well. It was clear that she was tiring over the last dozen and a miss late on put a dent in her score, but she obviously has huge potential. Even with the miss she recorded a pb for the round and has the added bonus of lifting the Junior Novice Trophy. The title belonged to Lula however, who led from start to finish. She was guilty of an occasional loose arrow, but she broke the 500 barrier with ease and recorded a terrific pb for the round as well as deservedly lifting the silverware. Hopefully this is just the first of many for Lula.
The u16 girls Trophy went to Erin Hainge unopposed but then Erin is in a league of her own. Still breaking in new heavier limbs she fell just a couple of points short of her pb for the round. Having shot the highest girls score of the day she also lifted the overall Girls Recurve Trophy and there is a chance that she will go for the triple by entering the Senior Club Championships on the 2nd of March. Watch this space.
The Junior Championships took place in the afternoon session, leaving the morning free for the adults to shoot a three-spot version of the round.
Rhys Moore was on fire in the Gents Compound dropping just 9 points over the course of the morning. His nearest rival, Andrew Westmorland, finished 19 points behind him. Pete Mumford picked third place ahead of Dave Moore who was breaking in a new bow and had a couple of misses shooting it, as he was, for the first time. Lone Lady Compound Aalin George put in a decent round but was still not up to her best.
In the Ladies Recurve division Barbara Harris, wrist heavily strapped to alleviate the pain of constant dislocation, put in some excellent ends but let herself down by being too lazy to reset on shots she new she had set up incorrectly. This resulted in two misses that dented her score and served her right for being a complete muppet.
Johnathan Gordon’s run came to an end when he had a miss three arrows from the end. This handed the win to Richard Hainge who beat Johnathan by a single point. Adrian Beale, returning from a shoulder injury picked up in a cycling accident, approached his set-up in a totally new way and reaped the benefits to take the third spot. As Adrian’s confidence in the new approach grew, so did his accuracy and he has set the foundations for solid development of his talents. Les Corran put in another solid round finishing strongly in fourth.
It was a straight head-to-head in the Gents Barebow with Ralf Mitchell taking on the might of Colin Moore. Even with a niggling shoulder injury that had Colin puffing with pain from time to time, the contest was a one sided one with Colin taking the win by almost 80 points.
Results Junior Championships- u18 Boys – E. Corran 59/459/4. u18 Girls – 1.L.Brown 60/512/14pb, 2.A.Schnetler 59/430/4pb. u16 Girls – E.Hainge 60/561/27.
Seniors Portsmouth: Gents Compound- 1.R.Moore 60/591/51, 2.A.Westmorland 60/572/32, 3.P.Mumford 60/558/20, 4.D.Moore 58/544/23. Ladies Compound- A.George 60/567/27. Ladies Recurve- B.Harris 58/507/15. Gents Recurve- 1.R.Hainge 60/554/23, 2.J.Gordon 59/553/30, 3.A.Beale 60/482/7, 4.L.Corran 56/477/14. Gents Barebow- 1.C.Moore 60/492/9, 2.R.Mitchell 60/413/1.
Isle of Man Archery Club 