Izzy Carpenter explains how the National Tour 2020 Compound Day was such a success, both for the archers, and Archery GB.
Lilleshall hosted the perfect welcome back to competition with the National Tour Final. For both the archers and spectators alike, the finals provided the much-needed competitiveness we've missed over lockdown. We were not disappointed with the compound day bringing match after match of high scores, arrow liners and new champions.
The morning kicked off with a sunny and slightly breezy women's quarter-finals. Due to COVID restrictions, the usual National Tour stages were unable to run so all of the athletes were selected using their previous ranking positions from 2019.
In this round, we saw the highest score across the whole day with Ella Gibson's 149. Both of the semi-final matches were neck and neck from start to finish. Bayley Sargeant gained the lead in the final three arrows against myself, taking the win 141-140. Ella Gibson was also victorious with a 144 to Layla Anniston's 140.
Layla and I went straight into the bronze medal match in which I came out as the winner with 140-135. The gold medal match brought some very close groups, however, Ella's 141 was not enough against Bayley's 144 which secured her the win and the gold medal.
In the afternoon, the top eight men fought for their place in the semi-finals. Two Mybo shooters, Adam Ravenscroft and Simon Scott, shot the first semi-final match with a close 142-140 in favour of Scott. The only two junior archers in the men's category, Adam Carpenter and Matthew Wong, were pitted against each other. It was all down to the last three arrows but unfortunately, Matthew couldn't best Adam's 30 point finish to take him to the gold final.
The bronze medal match showcased some great shooting with Matthew taking the win against Adam. For the last match of the day, Hoyt shooter, Adam Carpenter, was declared the winner of the gold medal following his eight-point lead over Simon Scott with 145-137.
As the first UK live event held under COVID restrictions for 2020, this National Tour final ran smoothly and perfectly to plan. The volunteers, judges and athletes put together a COVID-Safe and exciting shoot that can be looked back on as an exceptional success.
As always, thank you to our amazing sponsors:
