Four archers from the UK come home from the Kings of Archery tournament with gold and bronze medals around their necks.
From 10-12 November in Eindhoven, Netherlands, the annual Kings of Archery indoor event took place. Ella Gibson (compound woman) and Patrick Huston (recurve man) both won the top spots in their respective categories. Barebow archers Ollie Hicks and Sarah Hubbard also each returned with a bronze medal.
After 90 arrows of the Vegas qualification round, the top eight in each division (along with one second chance archer) competed in the live finals field shoot up, where each archer shot three-arrow ends. Scores were accumulated and the top scorers went through to the next round.
In the compound women, world number one Ella finished the 90 arrows with a perfect 900 points, a feat only equalled by Paige Pearce. The women’s finals consisted of just two rounds of shooting. During the second end, Ella was the only archer to shoot a perfect 30, securing her win for the second year in a row. It was also her first international appearance as a pro-staff shooter for Darton Archery, after leaving Hoyt Archery in October.
Ella said: “When I walked on the line for that end, I was just thinking at least two, three or four people will shoots 30s, so I have to shoot a 30. It’s not even a 30 to win, it’s a 30 to stay in. Often people think we don’t have as much pressure, but for the first real shoot where everyone knows what I’m shooting with Darton, I was really nervous. I wanted to do well and do them proud.”
Similarly for the recurve men, the finals saw two rounds of shooting. Patrick Huston shot an 898/900 in qualification to earn his spot in the live finals. Like Ella, he was the only archer to shoot a 30 in the second end, winning him the title.
Patrick said: “I was really quite shocked; I am over the moon! To win out there, under those lights, with that crowd watching was fantastic. I feel great.”
For Ollie Hicks, this was his first time at Kings of Archery. After an 843 in qualification, he earned his spot in the barebow men’s finals spot. Shooting a 28, alongside Oliver Øchkenholt, put both archers in the shoot-off for second place. The young archer narrowly missed out on the silver medal but was chuffed to come home with a bronze. “It’s a completely different atmosphere to anywhere else I’ve shot before. It’s a huge event with so many barebows which was really nice to see.”
Sarah Hubbard made the journey for her first ever international competition. Due to the lower number of barebow women in attendance, the category was not afforded a finals field appearance, so the medals were determined by the archers’ rank. With 821 points, Sarah finished in 3rd place, winning her the bronze.
“It’s an absolutely epic feeling, it really is. My expectations for this weren’t great because my shooting has been a little bit lower than normal, so to come away with a medal is amazing.”
For all the weekend's scores, check out Ianseo.
