Sunday 27th January 2014 - Day Three
6.00am – There is no way in hell anyone should be up at 6am and
contemplating shooting arrows. Even if
it is only 15 arrows. But that is
exactly what I’m doing. Having not made the top 32 cut-off for the
qualifications round I have automatically been entered into the Second Chance
competition. If I can score well with my next 15 arrows I might be in with a
chance of getting some of the goodies in the prize fund.
6.30am – I’ve trudged my way to the
main hall thinking of nothing but wanting to go home. It’s early, dark and
cold. Even my beloved Ceri is still
snuggled up in bed. We didn’t really see the need for her to be there. This’ll be over in about 30mins.
OMG!
Entering
the main hall I see just about every archer who didn’t make the top 32. I
thought this would be a nice quiet affair.
Boy was I wrong. I might as well
make the most of this experience. We’ve all travelled many miles to get here so why waste it? I guess I better man up and string up!
9.30am – I’ve shot my last arrow for
the competition. And I must admit, I had
more fun shooting in the Second Chance competition that in the qualification
round. Most of the archers were there to
have fun. The targets were unfamiliar (a
triangular Vegas three spot with all three targets overlapping) and most
shooters didn’t really stand a chance (I
saw some county champions there). So the
arrows were flying and so were the jokes.
Good times.
Here’s me shooting my last arrows.
The guy on my left ended up with no arrows with a full set of
vanes. Hell he was shooting a bareshaft!
9.45am – Last chance to support the team.
Karine is still setting up whilst Claire is ready to shoot her first
round of sighters. Karine waves me over
and needs a bow stringer. She’s left her kit bag in the bag area and has only just realized her
string is on upside down. Fortunately, I’ve just completed my shoot and have everything on me. One red bow
stringer to the rescue!
10.30am – Myself, Ceri, Claire and Richard Poole settle down to our last
breakfast in Telford. We chat about our
experiences and what is happening in the archery world next week. Of course I don’t miss one final chance to rib Richard about his position on the
line between two Olympians.
12.00pm - Check out and homeward bound. I didn’t feel like queuing up and watching the finals. ArcheryTV will be showing that later on and
have better seats than me.
It was a
pleasure to come and shoot at Telford.
ArcheryGB came up trumps when they managed to steal the competition and
host it in the UK. Where else will
shooters of all ages and abilities get to shoot against the world’s greatest. I may not have
shot at my best but I’m not complaining. Next time (whenever that will be) I’ll be back …
No comments:
Post a Comment