The Annual IoM Archery Club Indoor Championships took place on Sunday. The Seniors shooting a WA18 round in the morning and the Juniors shooting a Portsmouth round in the afternoon. This year saw a change in the format for the Senior Championships, with all archers shooting on a triple face target. Lots were drawn for boss number and position.

Unfortunately Joy Gough could not make it to the Championships due to family commitments, which left Sarah Rigby to shoot on her own. Without direct competition Sarah’s score was a little down on her usual standard.

The Gents Compound division saw the usual shoot off between Colin Moore, Peter Mumford and Dave Moore. Dave Moore led from start to finish to lift this year’s trophy but things were closer for second place with Colin leading Peter by 3 points after two dozen arrows. Colin then put in his worst half dozen arrows of the competition to fall 4 points behind Mumford. Peter eventually took second place by eleven points.

Karen Lott and Barbara Harris faced off once again in the Ladies Recurve. Harris who had only shot twice since November due to illness, was sadly out of practice and put up no resistance. Karen romped home to take the title by a margin of 54 points.

The Gents Recurve division saw the largest field of the day with Junior archers Josh Trafford and Bradley Layton electing to shoot the adult round alongside the seniors. Fortunes were mixed. Danny Cowin had a nightmare of a competition suffering eight misses. This was due partly to the sun getting in his eyes during the early part of the shoot. Bradley Layton similarly struggled, his six misses putting just behind Danny to finish in last place. The battle for the title ended up being between reigning champion Tony Hartley and junior archer Josh Trafford. Both contestants suffered a miss in their first dozen arrows but Tony had the best of it. At one point Hartley opened up a 14 point lead but faded a little as the shoot went on. Trafford on the other hand steadied and began to pick up pace towards the end to cut Tony’s margin of victory down to 5 points. This was a terrific effort by the younger archer, whose final score was a personal best for the round.

The Junior Championships were divided by gender and age group. Charlotte Harris recovering from another ear infection was a bit off form but she was the only girl in the competition and so took the trophy.

Joseph Reaney was likewise the only competitor in the u16 age group and record a score just a few points below his personal best.

Toby Young and James Hill faced off in the u14 category. Hill was making his first appearance at the Indoor Championships. Toby had a couple of misses but James managed to keep all his arrows on target to take the title at his first attempt. James Hill’s score was highest boys score of the day and so he became the Overall Junior Gents Champion as well.

Well done to all those who took part and congratulations to the winners.

Results Indoor Championships – Ladies Compound Sarah Rigby 60/555/18. Gents Compound 1. Dave Moore 60/565/28, 2. Peter Mumford 60/554/17, 3. Colin Moore 60/544/12. Ladies Recurve 1. Karen Lott 59/520/15, 2. Barbara Harris 56/466/10. Gents Recurve 1. Tony Hartley 59/489/10, 2. Josh Trafford 59/484/10, 3. Danny Cowin 52/439/10, 4. Bradley Layton 54/434/10