This content is archived and as has not been processed. It may contain unformatted text or images, broken links or out-of-date information.
To mark the end of indoors, we’ve selected the best bits of the 2013/14 season – from the first Indoor World Cup stage in Marrakesh to Nimes 2014 and the indoor worlds. Click on the links below after 8am GMT on publishing day (in brackets) to view!
Best scores (Wednesday 19 March)
Best matches (Thursday 20 March)
Best moments (Friday 21 March)
Best archers (Saturday 22 March)
5) Everyone’s eyes were on French recurve archer Jean-Charles VALLADONT at Nimes. Heading into the world indoors, he’d only lost two matches all season: both against Italian Matteo FISSORE.
FISSORE wasn’t at the worlds, so… we’d picked VALLADONT to win. In qualification, he was living up to the hype – until his name suddenly dropped off the leaderboard. Confused, we checked the results card, and the champion of the Singapore and Telford world cup stages had shot a miss!
Afterwards, he told us that it was “a moment of absentmindedness,” and he forgot his clicker. I think most people can relate…
VALLADONT finished with 288 for 30 arrows. That’s three arrows – including the miss – out of the 10. If he’d shot gold with that shaft he would have been top scorer heading into the second half. Even so, another 30 arrows later, his 580 qualification total was good enough for 19th place.
It’s the lesson to be learnt that makes this miss one of our favourite moments: when things go wrong, stay focused – and do the best you can. You may still make the cut!
4) Archery development worldwide is going really, really well. The Americas – especially central countries like Mexico and Colombia – are winning medals left, right and centre, and Africa’s not far behind.
Plus, this year, the African continent held its first ever World Cup on the indoor circuit, in Marrakesh. Our favourite moment: the buzzer going to start shooting. The first time only ever happens once!
3) Aida ROMAN went from relative unknown to superstar in the space of a few minutes back in 2012. All it took was an Olympic silver medal at London.
Since then, she’s not climbed the individual podium – until the world indoors at Nimes 2014, which she won quite convincingly.
It was great to see her winning medals again, but even better was when she grinned and showed off her new lucky charms. The last set helped her win her Olympic medals, and her new collection got off to a good start with gold in France.
2) This is for the long-time archery fans out there. We loved a three-time Olympic team medallist – two golds, one silver – turning up to the Berlin Open after being absent from the international circuit since 2009.
Korean YANG Yong Ho qualified okay, then stormed through his head-to-head matches before beating experienced German archer Sebastian ROHRBERG to gold.
YANG’s still got it.
1) The list of European compound men who have come second – or made it to the shoot-off – at the prestigious Vegas Shoot is very, very long.
(Vegas is the tournament at which archers shoot 30 arrows a day for three days at triangular faces. Compound’s score the big – recurve – 10, and must shoot a perfect 900 to make it to the shoot-off and be in with a chance of winning.)
The list of European compound men who have won the Vegas Shoot is very short – and did not exist before 2014. Where many have tried, Mike SCHLOESSER – the Dutch 20-year-old who won the senior world championships in Belek last year – succeeded.
What more is there to say? Mike made archery history:
Think there was a better moment indoors this past season? Tweet @worldarchery or tell us on our Facebook page.
Competitions
