BUCS Indoor 2013 Review [05/Mar/13]

BUCS Indoors returned to Telford for the second time and for the second time the attendance record was shattered. There were no less than 571 starters. To put that in context, there were 523 in 2012 and the next highest after that was 446. That was far from the only record to be smashed on an extraordinary day for student archery.

Every team that wins BUCS Indoors writes their own little bit of history, but there is no question that the vintage of 2013 leave a deeper than usual mark on the record books. Nottingham retained the title they won a year ago, with an eye-watering team total of 2335. Andrew Randall scored 593, there was a 584 from Phil Middleton, with George Harding one behind and Oliver Jackson's 575 rounding off the gold medal winning quartet. Nottingham beat (perhaps bulldozed would be a better word) the BUCS record of 2298 they set last year as well as the All Unis record of 2305 set nine years ago by Edinburgh. This was the only previous occurrance of a team breaking the 2300 barrier and it is worth considering for a moment that Messers Randall, Middleton, Harding and Jackson dropped only 65 points between them. The winning margin was 58 points - the highest for nine years and in the face of such brutal scoring, it was Oxford who claimed second place with 2277. Second is Oxford's best finish at a BUCS Championship and comes only two weeks after their win at BUTC. The Dark Blues' team was Matthew Langton and Kirstie Smith on 583 and 579, with Alexander Smith and Jack Sobey on 568 and 547. The scrap for third place was a three way battle between Warwick, Edinburgh and Loughborough. Warwick and Edinburgh both finished level on 2253 points and 240 hits. Golds would decide bronze and Warwick's 122 proved to be just enough as Edinburgh had 120. Tom Hall scored 580, whilst Manuel Gil got 571. Warwick's total was completed by James Edmondson's 558 and a 544 from Enrik Nako. This meant fourth place for Edinburgh, the first BUCS (or BUSA) championship since at least 1996 they have finish in the top two. Fifth place was taken by Loughborough only two behind on 2251. Douglas Jardine, Margaux Mesle and Fraser Keir all hit 560s for Edinburgh, whilst Thomas Cram and Edward Reeves notched 575 and 565 for Loughborough.

On their own in sixth place, Nottingham Trent finished in sixth on 2223, by far their best ever position at this event, with Amy Curnock's 577 helping them stay 40 clear of the chasing pack. The gap between 7th place and 12th place was only a dozen points, but the last set of BUCS points went to Cambridge, 7th with 2182 and Derby, 8th with 2179. This meant that teams from the BUTTS league occupied the entire podium and seven of the top eight slots - a remarkable display of dominance. Maryia Karpiyevich (Cambridge) with 574 and Shaun Rhodes (Derby) 562, top scored for their sides. London were only one point behind on 2178, but take maximum points in the SEAL match being extracted from these scores. Liverpool were just ahead of NEUAL rivals Sheffield 2176 to 2173. Southampton, without Luis Felipe Paulinyi, were 12th on 2170, with Exeter winning the SWWU match being extracted, 13th overall on 2164. Birmingham managed 2157, ahead of Napier, 15th on 2151. Durham's 2145 kept them ahead of Keele on 2141, with 18th placed Aberdeen a single point behind them, but two ahead of Plymouth. Rounding off the top 20, York scored 2134, with Bath in 21st on 2121, the last team over 2100. There were 39 complete teams of four.

Nottingham picked up the senior/novice team double with a commanding performance in the novice team event on 1617, with a team of Ravee Srivuthicharn on 553, Max Pyuman on 548 and Nadja Albiez on 516. This score missed out on the BUCS record, but was enough to put some clear air between them and second place. Second place was a Scottish side, but this time it was Napier who grabbed silver medals on 1588, with scores of 539 from Andrej Chrustaliov, 533 from Bethan Koller and Fraser Bisset's 516. Loughborough and Edinburgh were in a scrap for third and Loughborough's 1579 was just enough as Edinburgh finished fourth on 1577. Curtis Tatner scored 542 for Loughborough whilst Danyal Pike and Andrew Pyatt added 529 and 508. For Edinburgh, Roy Hotrabhvanon got 557, with Julie Saigusa on 521 and a 499 from Vlad Cecati. Nottingham Trent finished fifth on 1559, with 520s from Adeel Qadir and Steph Reynolds. Andrew Howe scored 545 to help Southampton to 1547, ahead of Oxford in seventh on 1526, Werner Guevara Ortiz on 522. Birmingham, Warwick and Exeter were the last three teams over 1500 in 8th, 9th and 10th, Birmingham on 1521, Warwick on 1517 and Exeter on 1514, Chris Self (Exeter) on 540. BUTTS clubs occupied six of the top nine novice teams of which there were 31 complete ones.

Andrew Randall (Nottingham) secured a second consecutive BUCS Indoor title, and for the second year in a row broke the BUCS record with a score in the 590s. This time Randall's 593 was enough to claim the All Unis record as well and matches the score shot by Alison Williamson in 2003. Sean Evans (Gloucestershire) missed out on an individual medal last year by a single gold, but this time made no mistake with a score of 591 and took silver, three points ahead of Ashe Morgan (Birmingham) who took bronze. Kieran Slater (Leicester) took fourth place and the last available BUCS point, so astonishingly, Phil Middleton, George Harding (both Nottingham), Matthew Langton (Oxford) and Tom Hall (Warwick) all shot in the 580s but only placed 5th to 8th. Middleton shot 584, one ahead of Harding and Langton who tied on 583/60/44, with Hall on exactly 580. There was then a small gap down to Thomas Cram (Loughborough) and Oliver Jackson (Nottingham) who finished joint 9th on 575 with 37 golds. Manuel Gil (Warwick) and Alexander Hickson (Bath) both got 571, Gil nicking 12th spot 36 golds to 35. Tom Van Baalen (East Anglia) was 14th and the final gent to go over 570. A total of 21 gents went over 560.

Ladies recurve was won by Kirstie Smith (Oxford) who scored an impressive 579. Perhaps surprisingly, her triumph is the first time a Dark Blue of Oxford has won an individual BUCS/BUSA recurve title. Second place, only two behind was Amy Curnock (Nottingham Trent). Maryia Karpiyevich (Cambridge) narrowly edged out Gerda Pociunaite (Exeter) 574 to 573, Karpiyevich claiming bronze, Pociunaite claiming the last BUCS point. Behind the leading group of four, current BUCS Outdoor champion Margaux Mesle (Edinburgh) lost out on the battle for fifth spot to Charlie Birch (Nottingham), the pair having finished on 567 and 565. There was then another small gap down to Victoria Saduikis (Queen Mary) seventh on 558, Kayleigh Bunker (Plymouth) eighth on 553 and Ellie Dyson (Nottingham Trent) ninth on 550. Sigourney Lee (York) completed the top ten on 547.

Gents novice category proved to be a very tough category. The eventual winner was Roy Hotrabhvanon (Edinburgh) with a massive 557, taking the BUCS record, set in 2004, by a single point. Hotrabhvanon was chased all the way by Ravee Srivuthicharn and Max Pyuman (both Nottingham) who took silver and bronze with 553 and 548 respectively. Despite exceeding 9 points per arrow, Andrew Howe (Southampton) with 545, Curtis Tatner (Loughborough) with 542 and Chris Self (Exeter) with 540 were "only" 4th, 5th and 6th. Andrej Chrustaliov (Napier) was just behind on 539, before a slight gap to Liam Man (Bath) on 535. No less than 30 novice gents shot 500 or higher, with 5 novice ladies matching this feat. Bethan Koller (Napier) opened up a 10 point lead, taking gold with 533. Second place was much closer however, with Steph Reynolds (Nottingham Trent) just edging out Julie Saigusa (Edinburgh) 523 to 521. Just behind the medal winners was Nadja Albiez (Nottingham) on 516. Here however, there was a 15 point drop down to Gemma Crickmore (Sheffield) in fifth and Neira Miljkovic (Derby) in sixth, one point either side of 500 respectively.

In the compound division, Alex Bridgman (Cardiff Metropolitan) was triumphant by 15 points, with 591. Bridgman had finished runner up in 2011 and again in 2012. Second down to seventh were tightly packed. Chris Tombe (Birmingham) claimed second with 576, ahead of Stuart Taylor (Keele) who grabbed bronze on 574, one ahead of Mathew Cole (Loughborough) who claimed the final BUCS point. Alex Blake (Strathclyde) and Billy Gao (Birmingham) were next on 571, 1 ahead of Richard Mill (Swansea). Zoe Coggins (Sunderland) successfully defended her ladies compound trophy with 579, a long way clear of Hope Greenwood (Edinburgh) on 560 and Georgina Brown (Birmingham City) 556 and Rhiannon Norfolk (Bath) 552. There were three novice compounds, Jonathan Cox (Birmingham) winning gents on 559, but missing BUCS record, Malin Berg (Edinburgh) getting 539 to stick 1 point on the BUCS record.

There were a whopping 103 barebow entries at BUCS this year (compare to 30 compounds and 31 longbows) with the massive hall enabling many recurves to chance their arm (perhaps literally) and double bow. By far the barebow score of the day came from Sara Emanuelsson (Durham) who destroyed the ladies barebow records (BUCS 509, All Unis 523) with a colossal 555 to leave her opponents trailing. Second placed Morag Douglas (Aberdeen) scored 528, which would also have been enough to break both records. Third placed Jos Sarsby (Birmingham) on 513 would have broken the BUCS record too, whilst the last BUCS point was won by Alix Snell (Bath) on 495 ahead of Jennifer Mankin (Edinburgh) on 481. John Hodgson (Loughborough) claimed the top honours in the gents with a score of 524, with last year's runner up and the current BUCS Outdoor champion Daniel Paterson (Bath) in second on 507. Matthew Batchelor (Exeter) snatched bronze away from Arran Constantine (Essex) whose fourth place secured a BUCS point, 502 to 501. Alexander Gilliland (Edinburgh) was fifth on 499. Jonathan Biderman (London) was top novice gent barebow on 504, with Ian Hayes (Birmingham) a close second on 497. James Nelson (Southampton) pipped Harry Baggaley (Liverpool) to bronze 473 to 471. Top novice lady was Rupali Gosai (Loughborough) on 384, ahead of 375 from Helen Parnell-Murphy (Exeter). Third and fourth were Nicole Johnson (MMU Cheshire) and Natalie Jackson (Loughborough) both on 358 points.

Luke Rieman (Warwick) won gents longbow gold quite comforably with 406. Ralph Vickery (Derby) scored 373 to keep two points ahead of Jonathan Ellis (Loughborough). Michael Wooster (Bath) just edged fourth and the last BUCS point from Craig Carvey (London) 347 plays 346. In ladies longbow, Victoria Swann (Bath) saw off Katy Campbell (Warwick) 308 to 303, with Rachael Hutchison (Warwick) third on 254 and Annie White (Oxford) fourth on 243. Both novice longbow categories had two competitors each and both winners provided a BUCS/All Unis record breaking score. Matt Reeve (Derby) scored 396 to beat the old mark by 12, whilst Samantha Gibson (Warwick) put 39 points on the old record with 348.

With the 2012 event at Telford having smashed the attendance record last year, the 2013 event managed to do it again. Organised by the combined Scottish Universities and AFS, it does seem as though the sheer scale of this event does the require the bodies from an entire regional league to help if run smoothly. As ever, huge thanks to those who put in all the work behind the scenes, both on the day and in the time leading up to the event. Archery GB Chairman Dave Harrison was a guest of honour at the event and he was certainly impressed by the scale and quality of the shoot, tweeting "Stunning to see so many archers at BUCS... Archery GB has a great future with these archers". Comments like that do imply that there will be no removal of student club insurance or en bloc membership as put forward in Archery GB's Membership Modernisation Consultation.

With Archery GB however, vigilence remains the watchword. Archery GB's website beat UKSAA to the punch with a review of the tournament, albeit this one is a little more in depth and got the medal winning teams right first time.

SEAL and SWWU both extracted a match from the Telford numbers and both league tables will be updated shortly. Scores for Round 4, February of the E-League are set to be published shortly, with Warwick looking to solidify their lead. BUCS scores will count towards the final round, Round 5, March. With both BUTC and BUCS Indoors done by the start of March there is relatively little of the indoor season remaining, so thoughts turn outdoors. If your club (or indeed your entire league) fancies a go at the Outdoors at Lilleshall on 15th June, then get in touch.

News and Editorials 2012/2013

  • August and everything after [13/Aug/13]
  • It's 2014, this must be Belgium [31/Jul/13]
  • Catching up with NEUAL [16/Jul/13]
  • Exeter ease to SWWU crowns [12/Jul/13]
  • H2H at Lilleshall, SEAL [01/Jul/13]
  • BUCS Outdoor 2013 Review [20/Jun/13]
  • NEUAL, BUTTS Outdoor titles [30/May/13]
  • London calling... for help [16/May/13]
  • Bath time: Clout & SWWU [07/May/13]
  • Outdoor Joy for Aberdeen [30/Apr/13]
  • E-League win for Warwick [25/Apr/13]
  • SWWU 3, Clout Champs info [04/Apr/13]
  • London calling for SEAL [01/Apr/13]
  • Keele claim NEUAL Indoor win [27/Mar/13]
  • Telford SEAL, SWWU and Survey [18/Mar/13]
  • Champions face E-League Drop [13/Mar/13]
  • BUCS Indoor 2013 Review [05/Mar/13]
  • BUTTS and SUS Championships [28/Feb/13]
  • London in SEAL driving seat [25/Feb/13]
  • BUTC 2013 Review [20/Feb/13]
  • Edinburgh win Titles Fight [15/Feb/13]
  • League Match win for Aberdeen [08/Feb/13]
  • A BUTTS match and a half [06/Feb/13]
  • Red Rose, Yellow Disc [04/Feb/13]
  • More January Updates [28/Jan/13]
  • January Updates [18/Jan/13]
  • Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, ELeague [09/Jan/13]
  • New Year NEUAL catch up [02/Jan/13]
  • Duo in dual SEAL duel [21/Dec/12]
  • Exeter win, Other corrections [12/Dec/12]
  • Joint Leaders for BUTTS [07/Dec/12]
  • Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Coventry [04/Dec/12]
  • Modernisation vs Insurance [28/Nov/12]
  • 4 points split BUTTS top 3 [21/Nov/12]
  • Opening shots fired [15/Nov/12]
  • Four more rounds [08/Nov/12]
  • Ireland UK Cup in January [30/Oct/12]
  • Thirteen Hosts - Part 2 [16/Oct/12]
  • Southern Leagues set to grow [08/Oct/12]
  • Thirteen Hosts [15/Sep/12]

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