After a day of drama, thrills, spills and shoot-offs our 2017 National Indoor Champions have been crowned. They are: Patrick Huston, Bryony Pitman, Layla Annison, Michael Kells, Luke Hagon and Sheila Hudson.
Top seed Patrick Huston cruised to his second recurve victory of the weekend at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre, Stoneleigh Park. He defeated Michal Twarowski 6-2, fought off a determined challenged from Riley Spencer-Nice and overcame Michael Judd and Conor Hall to secure a place in the title match. There he faced sixth seed Guy Matzkin who beat Sonnie Emeney, Colin Geenes, Ashe Morgan and David Timmins in the semi-final. But experience told in the gold medal match as Patrick took the honours. Conor beat David to bronze.
It took a shoot-off to decide the women's recurve title. Sixth seed Bryony Pitman saw off challenges from Wendy Aubrey, Pip Taylor, Imogen Newby and second-ranked Hannah Burgess to earn her place in the gold medal match. There she faced 2008 Olympian Charlotte Burgess, who had beaten Jackie Fisher, Kayleigh Ivanov, Anne Smith and Lizzie Warner in a tense semi-final. It was neck-and neck all the way but it was Bryony who held her nerve to win gold. Lizzie beat Hannah to bronze.
Last year, Layla Annison won silver in the NIC compound finals. This year the 15-year-old went one better. The fourth seed powered past Jane Reith, Kirsty Robb, Stephanie Clason and Hope Greenwood to land her gold final spot. Her opponent was third seed Bayley Sargeant who had defeated Robyn Geddes, Izzy Carpenter, Daisy Clark and Lizzy Foster. In the end the difference in the title decider was only two points - but there was no way that Layla was going to settle for silver again. The bronze medal went to Lizzy Foster.
In the men's competition, eighth seed Michael Kells overcame Philip Glover, Jordan Mitchell, Marcus Yeoman and Mike Parvess for his shot at gold. And he faced 17-year-old Kai Thomas-Prause who first defeated Paralympic gold medallist John Walker then battled through shoot-offs against James Howse, Chris White and James Mason to earn his opportunity. Again, there were only two points in it but Michael clinched the title 145-143.
Sheila Hudson retained her longbow crown after qualifying in top spot. She fought off challenges from Rebecca Duncan and Bernadette Stubbings to earn a gold medal showdown with Sarah Ruth Hubbard who had overcome Louise Thomas, Sandie Graham and Jessica Nirkko to secure her place. But Sheila was in no mood to relinquish the title and went on to chalk up a 6-0 win.
The men's longbow title went to fifth seed Luke Hagon who saw off Jowan Barnes, Ian Stowell and top seed Ben Ledwick. That brought him face to face with Rob Twigg who had defeated Edward Pike, Simon Thomas and 2016 champion Alex Newnes. It was a tough battle but Luke claimed the title with a 6-2 win and Alex won the battle for bronze.
You can find a breakdown of all the results here.
Above: Longbow action at the NIC
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