World Series returns to regular stage at the Sud de France – Nimes Archery Tournament

One month into 2021, some good news: We’re finally back at one of the bastion events on the international indoor calendar.

This year’s Sud de France – Nimes Archery Tournament is smaller than normal, focusing solely on the four main competition divisions, rather than the mass-participation celebration of the sport that normally features youth and master competitions and a famous trade show.

But it is happening. And for that, we’re grateful.

Archers from 12 foreign countries – Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and Sweden – have travelled to the event in the south of France. The field is just over 110 athletes strong in total, with about half of those representing the host nation. 

The results of everyone who competes will automatically be counted as a bonus stage toward the open ranking of the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series.

(Nimes was initially planned to coincide with the third remote stage of this year’s innovative virtual circuit, but a two-week delay, announced in late 2020, knocked the tournament out of sync with the monthly online events.)

Everyone on site in Nimes will present a negative PCR test for COVID-19 upon registration.

There are significant restrictions on personal contact, with much more space for each archer on the shooting line and masks mandatory at all other times, and a multitude of other restrictions in place (including a local 18h00 curfew) to protect everybody’s well-being and ensure that we can all focus on the archery.

Event facts

• Name: Sud de France – Nimes Archery Tournament
• Dates: 29-31 January 2021
• Venue: Parc des Expos, Nimes, France
• Athletes: 111 from 13 countries (43 recurve men, 20 recurve women, 32 compound men and 16 compound women)

Schedule

• Friday 29 January: Qualification round one
• Saturday 30 January: Qualification round two and early elimination matches
• Sunday 31 January: Elimination matches and finals

How to watch

Live streaming of the bronze and gold medal matches starts at 13h30 CET on Sunday 31 January 2021. English-language coverage will be available worldwide on YouTube and across World Archery’s digital platforms. French-language coverage will be broadcast domestically by Sport en France.

Who’s there?

A selection of the top names competing in Nimes. Position in the open ranking after three stages of the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series provided in brackets.

Recurve men: Thomas Chirault, France (2); Gijs Broeksma, Netherlands (14) and Florian Unruh, Germany (7).

Chirault has had an impressive (remote) indoor season, averaging more than 595 points. Will that level translate to a real live competition? Broeksma was great at the Papendal Invitational a couple of weeks ago, shooting a perfect final in front of the cameras.

Recurve women: Lisa Unruh, Germany (2); Gaby Schloesser, Netherlands (8) and Ana Umer, Slovenia (498).

Olympians Unruh and Schloesser are the two highest-ranked recurve women in Nimes with French archer Lisa Barbelin, currently number one in the open rankings, curiously absent. Experienced international Umer heads up a welcome Slovenian contingent.

Compound men: Mike Schloesser, Netherlands (1); Enzo Ackx, Belgium (6) and Jean Philippe Boulch, France (202).

Time flies. It’s been six years since Schloesser became Mister Perfect in Nimes. He’s hit 599 and 598 in remote events so far this season but, by his own admission, he’s not been in tournament shape. Frenchman Boulch won the third virtual stage, one point off perfect.

Compound women: Amanda Mlinaric, Croatia (7); Lisell Jaatma, Estonia (8) and Tanja Jensen, Denmark (not ranked).

Jaatma had the first major win of her senior career in Nimes last year. Jensen has been in the USA for a while – and hasn’t recorded a score for the circuit – but she’s back in Europe now and just in time. Tanja’s won in Nimes before and came second, to Lisell, in 2020.

What’s next?

The fourth and last remote stage of the 2021 Indoor Archery World Series will take place on 12-14 February 2021. Coverage will come from the Rushmore Rumble in Yankton, USA. Entries for the online tournament are being accepted until midnight CET on 7 February through OpenWAREOS.

Read more about how the circuit works and follow live scores from the Sud de France – Nimes Archery Tournament.

The 2021 Indoor Archery World Series is a mass-participation circuit of live and online archery tournaments.