Lowveld archers hit the mark at SA 3Di Nationals
Mbombela’s GBS Archery Club excelled at the 3Di Nationals, with 12 members earning colours.
Mbombela’s GBS Archery Club excelled at the 3Di Nationals, with 12 members earning colours.
Archers of the Garage Bow Shop (GBS) Archery Club took to the range on November 22 and 23 and never strayed from the target. Ten archers returned with provincial colours and two received national colours.
The 3Di Nationals were held at Gabbata Lodge in Pretoria and the GBS archers represented their club, the Lowveld and Mpumalanga with distinction. They earned a total of four top-three finishes and a further four top-10 finishes during a successful weekend in the Highveld.
Riaan Immink finished 13th in the MCA category, Shandré Kruger was seventh in the CUB category and Caryn Penny seventh in the FHCA category. Morné Pelser was sixth in the MCA category, and club chairperson Celeste Pelser was fifth in FHCA.
Liam Pelser was also on target to put the cherry on the cake for the Pelser family, finishing third in CUB. Darred Joubert was third in the AO category, while Arnold Joubert won the HCA category. Warno Smit was most impressive in AO, earning an astounding overall score of 420 with 20 bullseyes to claim first place.
The club’s aided team (Warno, Darred, Arnold and Morné) also claimed second place in the team competition.
“A huge thank you to everyone for an incredible season! We celebrated personal bests, hit bullseyes and grew stronger together,” Celeste said. “Whether we crushed targets, or just crushed it trying, cheers to the arrows, laughs and camaraderie!”
She highlighted a number of other achievements over the past year for the GBS archers, including 10 qualifications for Mpumalanga colours and two qualifications for national colours – Morné and Liam.
“Fun shoots, friendships, pushing limits and support for each other – because archery’s better together! Thanks to coaches, parents and shooters for the energy! With everyone’s support, we ended the 2025 season on a high note,” Celeste concluded.
GBS Archery Club is based in Mbombela and membership is open to anyone in Mpumalanga. Currently, the bulk of their members are from Mbombela with a few from Sabie and Lydenburg.
