What a successful year it has been for our BBS Archers!
In July, BBS' Archers, VI1's Clive Jones & Stuart Rodgers, VI 2/3 Nick Thomas, Phil Tranter & Steve Prowse went to Pilsen, Czech Republic to compete in the Para World Championships.
They shot a qualifying round consisting of 72 arrows, shot on an 80cm face at 30 metres. This gave the VI archers a ranking that sorted the athletes into head-to-head matches which resulted in the gold and silver winners. Steve Prowse retained his number one spot by winning the Gold and Nick Thomas the Bronze.
Following the Para World Championships, the Para European Championships took place in Rotterdam from 8th-20th August. Our VI 1 archer Clive Jones was the only VI archer from the UK to compete. He went straight from this event to the IBSA World Games 2023 at the University of Birmingham.
The IBSA World Games 2023 from 18th-27th August was the biggest platform we have had for VI Archers. What an amazing event!
Needless to say, our VI archers were incredibly excited about competing in the competition against archers from around the globe. Telling you about it will not do the archers justice as to how close some of the matches were. Our VI Archers really pulled out all the stops, they entertained and impressed everyone who came to see them. What an opportunity we had to showcase VI archery to the rest of the world and prove that it is a sport for all abilities and ages.
We had VI archers from Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Romania, Uganda & the UK.
As in every competition, there must be winners and the results were:
VI 1 - Gold Ruben Vanhollebeke Belgium, Silver Clive Jones UK, Bronze Loredana Ruisi Italy
VI 2/3 - Gold Steve Prowse UK, Silver Nick Thomas UK, Bronze Kathleen Meurrens Belgium
VI Open - Gold Terry Piper UK, Silver Andrea Thomas UK, Bronze Deb Wright UK
It was not certain that Steve Prowse would complete his shoot against Nick Thomas for the Gold/Silver medal. At the beginning of the shoot, it was obvious Steve had sustained an injury to his shoulder which made shooting very painful and difficult for him. However, his experience and sheer inner strength won through. Currently, Steve is recovering at home in the capable hands of his wife and spotter Lesley. He has been given exercises to follow by his physio and reports tell us he is making good progress. Sadly Steve had to pull out of the British Blind Sport Championship on Sunday 27th August.
Archers from Australia, Belgium & Pakistan took part in our Archery Section Outdoor Championships on Sunday, 27th August. It was an end to a wonderful week at the games held on the athletics field at the University of Birmingham. The winners of this competition are as follows:
BBS Archery Open International Competition
VI 1 – Gold Ruben Vanhollebeke Belgium, Silver Roger Rees Evens UK, Bronze Clive Jones UK
VI 2/3 - Gold Nick Thomas UK, Silver Kathleen Meurrens Belgium, Bronze Sebastian Kollarek Germany
VI Open – Gold Terry Piper UK, Silver Deb Wright UK, Bronze Andrea Thomas UK
BBS Archery Championships
VI 1 - Gold Roger Rees Evans, Silver Clive Jones, Bronze Trish Gracesmith
VI 2/3 – Gold Nick Thomas, Silver Phil Tranter, Bronze Carol Davies
VI Open – Gold Terry Piper, Silver Deb Wright, Bronze Andrea Thomas
And last but by no means least, a massive thank you to all the spotters who supported the archers tirelessly throughout the year, without them we could not compete in the sport we love. They are Rick Smith, Maggie Squires, Graham Rees Evans, Ian Rees Evans, Lesley Prowse, Marina Marples, Marie Thomas, Tom Hutton, Malcolm Higman and Kurt Piper.
Written by: Carol Davies
Photo Credit: Richard Hall
VI1 Clive Jones UK, Ruben Vanhollebeke Belgium, Loredana Ruisi Italy at the IBSA World Games.
