The first international tournament of the brand new calendar year: Nimes. Somewhere around 1,000 archers of varying nations, skills and bowstyles and stage three of the 2016/17 Indoor Archery World Cup in a city that’s been famous for its world-class tournament for well over a decade.
Catch up on the results of the first two stages, held at the back end of 2016 in Marrakesh and Bangkok, and read the 10 things you need to know about this weekend’s tournament…
1. FAMOUS NEIGHBOUR
The Indoor Archery World Cup, unlike its outdoor counterpart, is open entry. There’s no qualification score and archers don’t need to be part of a national team to register – but plenty who do represent their country attend. It makes for an incredible mix of world-class athletes and aspiring intermediates, shooting side-by-side.
Around a third of those attending Nimes 2017 are from France, the host nation, and there are seven Rio 2016 Olympic medallists taking to the line, too… wonder who’ll get to shoot with the Champions, Ku Bonchan and Chang Hye Jin? (The target draw, rest assured, is random.)
2. SCHEDULE
The Nimes tournament lasts three days.
Friday 20 January: Practice and two qualification sessions.
Saturday 21 January: Two qualification sessions, followed by eliminations for athletes in the top 32 of each competition division.
Sunday 22 January: The secondary tournament, then junior finals – and then the main event. The championship bronze and gold finals take place in the afternoon.
3. LOCKED TOP?
Across all four Indoor Archery World Cup categories, there’s only one athlete who’s got a commanding lead over the rest of the field in the Indoor Archery World Cup rankings.
Mister Perfect Mike Schloesser, on 93 ranking points, has the top spot in the compound men’s list. With points in Nimes, he’ll not only secure a definite ticket to the Indoor Archery World Cup Final, shot in the evening of the second day (Saturday) of The Vegas Shoot, but a strong seeding for that event, too.
