A THEME of adding a little extra challenge emerged over the recent Blue Lake Archers outdoor and indoor rounds.
As new archers have settled into the sport it was time to reintroduce some old club favourites.
A breezy Sunday afternoon on November 21 added to the pressure when the archers decided to challenge themselves by using the 80cm target face at its maximum range of 50 metres.
A Holt round is 90 arrows and leaves little room for error in the smaller of the outdoor target faces.
Peter Donhardt had nothing to lose and everything to gain in the changeable wind conditions.
The wind had the established archers well off their normal level of accuracy and were left in Donhardt’s wake with a final adjusted margin of 131 points to his nearest rival, Ben Kilsby.
Friday night indoor archery explored the World Archery 18-metre round, a more difficult round for the compound archers who are required to hit the very centre of the target to gain a maximum 10 points.
The first half of the round was a point-by-point scrap between Kilsby and Graham Lock, while the second half saw Paul Freeman hit his straps to take it right up to the leading pair.
The final scores put Lock in the winner’s position, with Freeman only five points off forcing a count-back.
The most recent outdoor event last Sunday returned to a triple-distance round after a staple diet of single-distance rounds.
A sunny day saw the World Archery 60/900 return to the score sheets after a long hiatus.
Fresh from a win in the last outdoor event, Donhardt was keen to keep that run going while Kilsby was determined to put the brakes on Donhardt and Freeman.
The final results could have gone either way between Kilsby and Donhardt but in the end Kilsby’s score was superior by a single point to deny Donhardt a second win on the trot.
Indoor archery continues this week at Blue Lake Gymnastics Club, Malseed Park, Friday at 7.30pm followed by outdoor archery at Corriedale Park from 12.30pm Sunday.
Holt outdoor round, handicap scored, benchmark 900 points: Peter Donhardt 959 (off the bow 625); Paul Freeman 828 (766); Ben Kilsby 812 (691); Garry Jacques 768 (547).
WA 18 metre Indoor, handicap scored, benchmark 600 points: Graham Lock 599 (off the bow 554); Paul Freeman 594 (548); Ben Kilsby 565 (551).
WA 60/900 outdoor round, handicap scored, benchmark 900 points: Ben Kilsby 879 (off the bow 853); Peter Donhardt 878 (692); Paul Freeman 869 (804).
