AS SPORTING fixtures return to competitive modes, indoor archery rounds have dominated the return of Blue Lake Archers to the local sporting scene.
Outdoor archery sessions have been conducted, but due to poor conditions or low numbers on the field the only competitive scored events were at the indoor venue.
The Friday night indoor round marked the return to competition and produced surprisingly tight score lines despite the enforced break from the sport.
A near-perfect start in the first round of two Australian Indoor 18-metre events was a confidence boost for Ben Kilsby, clocking up a superb off the bow score of 299 from a possible 300.
Graham Lock couldn’t hope to match Kilsby’s off the bow pace but snatched the adjusted score win by a solitary point over Kilsby.
Round two seen the scores drop slightly for the two front runners, the lack of recent rounds seemingly taking its toll on match fitness.
Lock and Kilsby maintained the front running but Paul Freeman was a man on a mission.
Freeman gained points on his first round and seriously challenged for the adjusted score win, falling four points shy of the winning adjusted score.
The round again went Lock’s way at the final count, this time a two-point buffer to Kilsby gave a little more breathing space.
Sunday afternoon the conditions gave the nod to a change of venue from outdoor to indoor and an Australian 25-metre indoor made a return after a long diet of 18-metre rounds.
Len Bayley was able to attend and get back into the swing of competition, it transpired that he had lost little of his finesse and kept the others on their toes throughout the round.
Kilsby had reinvigorated his match fitness and quickly gained an insurmountable lead, his off the bow 298 points from 300 another standout performance that gave him the overall win on adjusted scores 10 points clear of Bayley.
COMING EVENTS
Tonight – Indoor archery at Blue Lake Gymnastics Club, Malseed Park from 7.30pm; Sunday – Outdoor archery at Corriedale Park from 12.30pm.
RESULTS
Australian Indoor 18-metre, Round 1, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points: Graham Lock 301 (off the bow 289), Ben Kilsby 300 (299), Paul Freeman 286 (274).
Australian Indoor 18-metre, Round 2, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points: Graham Lock 296 (off the bow 284), Ben Kilsby 294 (293), Paul Freeman 292 (280).
Australian Indoor 25-metre, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points: Ben Kilsby 299 (off the bow 298), Len Bayley 289 (235), Paul Freeman 280 (268).
