Bulls-eyes at Marks Park
EMMARENTIA – Archers come from accross the country to win the target championships at Marks Park Sports Club.
Never did an arrow fly truer than at Marks Park Archery’s Target Championships.
The best of the best from around the country descended on the Emmarentia club on 2 and 3 December for its final archery competition of the year.
Proteas women’s archer Jeanine van Kradenburg, Proteas junior archer Johan Wilsenach (16) and the whole Proteas men’s team were among those competing for glory.
Marks Park Archery secretary, Charmaine Ho explained that the championships were divided into several classes from U10 to masters level (50 years and older).
Archers competed with either compound or recurve bows, and men shot 30m, 50m, 70m and 90m. Women and cadets (U17 and younger) shot 30m, 50m, 60m and 70m.
“Everyone shot 72 arrows for a points ranking, which we used to pair people off for knockout rounds leading up to the final,” said Ho.
“The championships are always competitive but nice. Archers have excellent camaraderie. When a bow breaks, competitors will share their bows. Archers also encourage each other.”
She added that archery is not as big a sport in South Africa as it is in other countries, and its numbers grow and wane over the years.
“Whenever there are world championships people want to qualify for, we see the fields full of people practising and trying to win local competitions. But some years there are not as many people.”
Ho invited anyone interested in finding out more about archery to contact the club.
Beginners courses are held regularly at Marks Park, with no equipment needed, and a head-to-head round-robin elimination competition will be held in mid-January.
Target Championship winners:
Compound men: Beyers de Klerk
Compound women: Gerda Roux
Recurve men: Wian Roux
Recurve women: Leanda Hendricks
Compound men open (paraplegic division): Justin Abrams
Compound masters men: Kobus Barnard
Recurve limited: Stanley Pimenta
Recurve cadet men: Johan Wilsenach
Compound junior women: Michelle van Wyk
Compound junior men: Stefan Coetzee
Recurve boys U15: Reenen Herbst
Compound boys U13: Paul van der Merwe
Compound boys U10: 10 Hendre Verhoef.
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Details: Marks Park Archery 082 389 1727 or 082 593 4521.
