Pitman doesn't feel the one to beat after achieving career-best ranking

Bryony Pitman became the first-ever British recurve to top the Sanlida World Ranking in late January in the World Cup era.

Following the indoor tournaments, she expectedly dropped to second place after skipping Nimes or Vegas. Pitman was overtaken by Germany's Katharina Bauer, who reached two podium finishes in indoor events.

The 25-year-old archer from Great Britain instead of entering tournaments chose a different path and focused on her preparations for the outdoor season.

And she aims to be steady, in strong shape and fully motivated, when the tour takes full swing. She climbed as high as no other British recurve before, but neither feels nor puts any pressure on herself.

“I think it gives me more motivation than anything else. Nobody probably expected me to be the World number one, so I don't really see that as extra pressure,” claimed Bryony.

“The fact that I've been here now just gives me so much more motivation for the outdoor season to have some good World Cup and World Championship results,” she continued.

Already the previous season, Pitman was amid the archers hard to beat. She took gold at the Hyundai Archery World Cup opening event in Antalya and collected two silver medals. The Britt was the runner-up at the World Games and the World Archery Field Championships, having lost twice to Chiara Rebagliati in field competition.

Entering the Hyundai Archery World Cup in 2023 as one of the top-ranked, she will be deemed one of the top contenders. Still, Bryony doesn't see herself as the one to beat.

“I think there will probably be an element of that for some other archers, but there are also so many good women archers, it's highly competitive at the top now, so I don't really think I'm necessarily the one to beat,” Pitman said.

“I think there's a group of people who are so good and so talented. We always try to be the best we can and it's not necessarily about beating specific another person.”

Hyundai Archery World Cup will being in April in Antalya, Turkey. Bryony took gold there last season.