Over 900 Archers to Compete in the Nimes Tournament 2012

Joanna CHESSE (FRA), Compound Women's winner 2011   
  Over 900 archers from twenty-four countries have already registered for the Nimes Tournament, which will take place from the 20-22 of January, 2012. Archers from around the world include France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Japan, Slovenia, Croatia, Monaco, Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Lituania, Russia, Israel, and Luxemburg.

Here are our predictions :
  Recurve Men   There is a high chance Italian archers will be the favourites in this category. Multiple World Champion Michele FRANGILLI could face his compatriot, the 2004 Olympic Champion Marco GALIAZZO in the final, as was the case in 2010. Both of them have already won the Nimes Tournament in previous years. Young Dutch archer Rick VAN DER VEN, who shot an excellent outdoor season in 2011, will also be a serious contender.
France will be represented in this category by Romain GIROUILLE, who is in the top 10 of the World Ranking, and will try to do better than last year when he lost in the semifinal. Winner of the Indoor World Championship Sebastien FLUTE is trying to compete in the Olympics again, twenty years after winning the Olympic title in 1992 and becoming the French National Outdoor Champion in 2011. He is likely to shine in this Tournament. Finally, viewers should also watch for the local archer from Nimes Thomas AUBERT who just placed second in the Singapore World Cup stage.
  Recurve Women
  The star of this category will most certainly be Italy’s Natalia VALEEVA. She’s the only European archer to have broken the Korean hegemony. A two-time outdoor world champion, she is also an excellent indoor archer, having won the Indoor World Championships four times. She aims to win the Nimes Tournament for the first time. Other archers to watch include VALEEVA’s compatriot Pia Carmen LIONETTI, as well as the British archer Naomi FOLKARD, and Germany’s Elena RICHTER. The No. 1 French indoor archer Berengere SCHUH will not be competing this year. France’s best hope for a medal will be Céline BEZAULT.   Compound Men
  Reo WILDE (USA) will be the man to beat in this category. He was won no less than ten World Championships medals and one World Cup Final in 2006. He also won the Las Vegas Tournament twice and the first World Indoor Archery Challenge last year, among other accomplishments. However, he still has yet to win the Nimes Tournament. Will this be his year? One of his strongest rivals will be Italy’s Sergio PAGNI, who has won the World Cup Final twice and has also won the Nimes Tournament. (Note : In what year ?) The European Indoor Champion Ruben BLEYENDAAL from the Netherlands will also be one to watch. Canada’s Dietmar TRILLUS, who has already earned a large collection of medals in outdoor archery (World Champion and World Cup Final winner), hopes to increase his indoor archery medal collection after he won the Las Vegas tournament. Finally, French archer Pierre Julien DELOCHE, who just made it in the top 10 of the World Ranking in 2011, aims to do well on home soil. As the winner of the tournament in 2009, he will be among the favourites this year. His compatriot Dominique GENET, who has medalled several times in Nimes as well as at the Indoor World Championships, will also be among the contenders. Sebastien PEINEAU, European Indoor Silver Medallist in 2011, could very well end up on the podium as well.   Compound Women   The archer to beat in this category will be the two-time World Outdoor Champion 2009 & 2011 Albina LOGINOVA (RUS), who also won the World Cup Final in 2010 as well as the World Archery Indoor Challenge in 2011. She is challenged by the new star of the Italian team, Marcella TONIOLI. The Italian archer won the European Indoor Championships last year and defeated LOGINOVA in the final., on top of taking the Ogden World Cup stage. Young Dutch archer Inge VAN CASPEL, who was a finalist in Nimes in 2010, also aims claim the victory. Indoor archer specialist Gladys WILLEMS (BEL) will once again be a serious contender. Last year’s winner Joanna CHESSE from France will undoubtedly try to defend her title this year. Her compatriot Pascale LEBECQUE, the World Silver Medallist in Turin in 2011, tries for the gold now. Finally, local archer from Nimes Sandrine VANDIONANT will have a real shot at victory, after winning the Singapore World Cup stage.

World Archery Communication