So I've just about recovered from the awesome experience that was stage 1 of the Indoor Archery World Cup 2016, hosted in Marrakesh, Morocco. For those not familiar, the indoor world cup is a series of four stages of indoor competitions which are open entry, meaning numbers aren't limited to national teams and anyone who fancies it can have a go shooting with some of the best in the world.
Last year I took part in my first world cup at stage 3 in Nimes, a humongous tournament and trade show with over 1000 participants spread across three halls of an exhibition centre in the south of France. There the standard is very high and I scraped into the top 32 with a pb of 575/600, before being knocked out in the first round against top seed Brady Ellison who is a bit of a rock star in the archery world. Marrakesh was a very different experience...
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Very scenic for an indoor shoot! Photo by World Archery[/caption]
Here the first stage is a more modest affair with ~250 competitors and reduced ranking points for the world cup on offer. As Marrakesh has no suitable indoor facilities the shoot is held in a giant tent, which this year was placed in a town square off one of the main intersections and was big enough to fit a small tree behind targets 17 and 18. The prize money is also only awarded to the top 4/8 depending on entries, in contrast to the top 32 at Nimes. The leg is usually attended by a few of the worlds best looking to get an early score in, and this year it was Brady again who dominated the show with a blazing new world record of 598/600
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All the more impressive given the conditions of the round! Photo by World Archery[/caption]
This time however I was not as far behind. After launching myself into the first half with a big score of 294 and sitting 3rd on the leader board, things didn't quite go as scripted afterwards. Strong winds and rain battered the tent as we reached the halfway break and the competition was delayed for a couple of hours while the tent was secured by a man in a suit with a sledgehammer and some 3 foot steel stakes! The temperature dropped rapidly and it was hard to get back into the zone in the second half, meaning I lost my slight edge on the places below and finished in 5th with a score of 582.
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Strong start![/caption]
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Concentration in qualification. Photo by World Archery[/caption]
It was after 6pm by the time we got round to our first round elimination match and I'd now been in the tent for the best part of 10 hours having supported the British womens recurve archers in their qualification round in the morning. Despite being seeded 28th my opponent really raised his game for the match and we kept tying with 29s, but in the end I came out 7-3 to the good. It made a good warning that there's no such thing as an easy match at this level.
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Sarah vs Bryony in their semi-final matchup. Photo by World Archery[/caption]
The next day by contrast was all over far too quickly. My opponent in the second round came out firing with three 29s in a row and I just locked up and didn't have the answers. The new technique is excellent but I was just thinking too much about it and unable to move with the confidence I'd had the day before. This will get better with practice, but for now it was game over for me. Luckily we were entertained instead by two of the brits in the medal matches, Sarah taking a courageous 4th after a huge quarter final win over Mexico's Gabriela Bayardo, while Bryony scored a well deserved (though unconventionally spotted) win in the gold match against Aida Roman!
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"Is that a 10 I see?" Photo by World Archery[/caption]
Overall it was a fantastic trip, a great chance to spend time with and make new friends, good shooting and much appreciated warm weather!