The 2024 National Tour kicked off with the UK Masters event at Lilleshall on 29-30 June.
After the unfortunate cancellation of stage one of the National Tour at Bucks or Bounty, the UK Masters became the unofficial first event of the National Tour season. Over the weekend, 270 archers came to Lilleshall to compete to become the new UK Masters champion.
This year’s event ran a little differently to usual, as “repechage” matches were introduced as a new edition to Sunday’s schedule. This meant that every place from first up to sixty-fourth for some categories were shot for.
Also to add to the spectacle of the event, the gold final matches for all categories were shot finals-field style, commentated on live and shot with multiple cameras; the perfect taster into what September's National Tour Finals will be like in September.
Off the back of earning their Olympic quota places in Antalya two week ago, Penny Healey and Bryony Pitman made the gold final which saw Penny take the win 6-2. On the men’s side, Patrick Huston narrowly defeated Archie Bromley, taking the match to a shoot-off which he won with a 9 to Archie’s 7.
Commenting on the chance to shoot on the finals field, Penny said: “I always have the finals field experience that I know of in the bag, but this also helps me with confidence going towards future internationals that I could be doing. I don’t think I’ve ever actually won the UK Masters before, so that’s really cool to be able to do for the first time."
Sheila Hudson continued her winning streak at the UK Masters, becoming the champion for an incredible ninth year in a row by defeating Lorraine Slater in the final. For the men, Cliff Gadd took the gold against Brian Rosenberg, 6-2.
Silver compound men's medallist, Ajay Scott
Last year’s bronze medallist, Kai Thomas-Prause, finished at the top of the podium this time by defeating GB compound teammate Ajay Scott. For the women, world number one Ella Gibson took the win from Layla Annison, 147-143 in the gold final.
Kai told us: "I’m always happy with a win, it’s brilliant. The Masters is obviously such a historic event in the UK; I think the trophy said 1987 or something, so having my name on there is great. And hopefully in years to come I’ll be filling it up more."
Sarah Hubbard dropped three set points in the gold final against Vic Williams, the only points she let slip to an opponent across the whole day, taking the win 7-3. For the men, Craig May took a perfect 6-0 victory over 2023 National Tour bronze medallist, Ralph Barwise.
The next stage of the 2024 National Tour will take place at Woking Archery Club, run by Surrey Archery, from 13-14 July. We can't wait to see you all there!
To see all the scores, use the link here.
