GB's men's team were knocked out in the first round against Chinese Taipei as matches got underway in Paris. Athletes Tom Hall, Conor Hall and Alex Wise reflect on the match and look ahead to the individual competition.
On Thursday 25, the archers shot their qualification round. On Monday, the men’s team was knocked out of the competition by 5th ranked Chinese Taipei, 6-0.
Throughout the rest of the week, GB will take part in the individual head-to-heads, starting with the men from 16:45pm on Wednesday 31 July.
Debutant Olympians Alex Wise and Conor Hall, and two-time Olympian Tom Hall, talk us through what Paris has been like so far.
In the 1/8 match, 5th ranked Chinese Taipei took a 6-0 victory over the 12th ranked GB team. The GB men reflected on their performance and the experience of shooting on the world's biggest sporting stage.
“It’s really cool and special, especially with the big crowds we've got for archery here. It's not normal for archery to get thousands of people to watch the first round.
“At the Olympics, it has tended to be calm in the morning so far, and it gets windier throughout the day. So we've learned something if one of us gets a draw in the individual matches early in the morning: when the conditions are nice, we don’t need to overthink it.”
“It was a difficult draw. I'm probably going to try not to watch the rest of these matches, because I'm sure one of them is going to look a little bit easier afterwards. But it is what it is. You can't hide away from that. We turned up, we tried to shoot. We shot reasonably, not quite our best ones. They [Chinese Taipei] shot very well, and that made it quick. So we'll just try to get better. But we can be proud of what we've done.
“It just comes down to the level you're shooting at, and the consistency you have. It's very few arrows to try and demonstrate what you're capable of. It's quite difficult. For the most part, I’ll just keep believing, come back for the individuals, and try to give it my best effort.”
“We know the level they [Chinese Taipei] can shoot at. I expected them to put in a good score. They did, so good for them. They're also a very good team.”
The men will take to the stage next for their individual eliminations, starting with the 1/32 round. Conor Hall will shoot at 16:45pm on 31 July, Tom Hall will compete in the match straight after at 16:58pm, and Alex Wise will shoot at 17:06pm the next day on 1 August. Make sure to set your alarms so you don't miss any of the action.
