Russian youth indoor championships attracts record 715 archers

A record number of 715 archers competed in Russia’s national youth indoor championships, held on 20-25 November in Velikie Luki in the Pskovskaya region – a town situated around 500km west of Moscow.

“We are so encouraged to have such a high number of young people competing at a national level,” said Russian Archery Federation President Vladimir Esheev.

“The plan is to continue improving the level of organisation, including publishing live results online, and promoting the tournaments to encourage further growth, and organising arena finals with live streaming.”

“This should provide young Russian athletes with the experience of world-class international competition, better preparing them for future phases in their archery careers.”

Competitions were held in Velikie Luki for both junior and cadet archers.

Juniors Sodnom Budaev, Buyanto Osorov, Sayana Dashidondokova, Evgeniiia Renzhini, and cadets Roman Efimov, Elizaveta Koroleva, Artur Gareev and Lidia Ulianova won the gold medals.

Russia’s national events are split into three types: those open only to national squad members the country’s approximately 32 regional teams; tournaments for clubs, regions and schools; and open-entry competitions.

The event in Veliki Luki started 25 years ago as the ‘Hopes of Russia’ school championships but was recently opened up to clubs and regions.

The growing popularity has seen participation grow steadily – including the 30% jump in entries in 2018, up from 540 in 2017.

It was also the first national competition in Russia to use the Ianseo open-source results software, World Archery’s preferred scoring system. Information was posted live online during the tournament.

Four further national indoor competitions are scheduled to take place this season, all in the Russian city of Orel, finishing with an open-entry event on 1-3 February. 

With results available online and wider coverage of the tournaments, it’s hoped that the international side of that tournament will grow – just as Russia’s domestic events have done.