UK Student Archery Association

Oxford pip Warwick in BUTTS thriller [15/Mar/22]

By the slimmest of margins, Oxford claimed top spot at BUTTS Indoor Championships and with it, the overall BUTTS league title. Nottingham were edged out into second - ahead of Warwick. The two point swing meant Oxford overtook Warwick at the top and gave Oxford their second BUTTS league title after 2003. Warwick were second in the overall standings. Nottingham finished third in the senior table and top of the BUTTS novice table having also won at the Indoor Champs.

Going in to the match, Warwick led Oxford by a single league point and had an aggregate advantage of 36. After the first session, Nottingham were the leaders with 2255. Warwick shot in the middle session but struggled to recapture their early season form and ended on 2227. For Oxford, shooting in session three, this meant that if they could finish top, the resultant two point swing would give them the title. Miss out however and Warwick would make it home. In the end Oxford squeaked home by a solitary point, with a score of 2256. Hosts Loughborough nearly caught Warwick in third, but fell only one point short on 2226, meaning 30 points covered the top 4 teams. Birmingham were fifth on 2163, just ahead of Coventry - who easily completed a div 2 clean sweep - on 2142 and Nottingham Trent on 2121.

Ben Evans (Loughborough) was the top scorer in the match with 584, whilst Joshua Morris-Jones (N Trent) scored 575. Yang Pei anchored Oxford home with a 574, supported by Sam Walby's 569. Hannah Evans (Nottingham) scored 570, with her teammates Max Harding and Dominic Kelsey both a point behind. For Warwick, Wills Chiu scored 571 and James Gardner 562. Elsewhere in the match, Ben Thompson (Coventry) scored 565 and Charlie Alvarez (Northampton) notched 563.

See the final league standings BUTTS 2021/22 page. The Dark Blues have only won the BUTTS league once before in 2003. In the last 10 years they've won 5 national titles, BUTC 2013 and 2014, plus BUCS Outdoor in 2014 and both BUCS women's team titles in 2015, without getting their hands on their local league. Warwick faded slightly in the second half of the season, but actually ended with the highest match aggregate, by a margin of 7 points in 4 matches. Oxford took 33 points, with Warwick on 32. Nottingham, who were second in three out of the four matches, placed third on 30 points. Loughborough were fourth, despite an average approaching 2200, with Birmingham fifth. Coventry completed the formalities of the division 2, completing a clean sweep - their four match aggregate was the 6th highest of the 13 combined teams.

Nottingham won the novice match with 2067 and extended their overall league lead to 5. Loughborough were second in the match on 2030 and almost caught Birmingham in the table but Birmingham held on to second spot on aggregate. Coventry were third in the match on 1994 but in div 2, so De Montfort, with 1988 took the third placed points. David Bosmans and Bo Zhang (both Coventry) were top individuals on 537 and 534. Benjamin Young (Nottingham) and Stuart Pinson (De Montfort) were both low 520s, with Emily Green (Nottingham) top lady novice on 519. Nottingham won the BUTTS novice title for the fifth time overall.