UK Student Archery Association

Qualifying for BUCS [04/Mar/23]

Qualifying for BUCS Indoor championships 2023 was split between Manchester Met (18th Feb), Stirling and Bristol (both 25th Feb). A total of 715 scores were returned (up by nearly 100 on last year) and the scores were also used for NEUAL, SEAL and SWWU matches. BUCS have published the full combined results and the minimum scores to qualify for the finals event in Warwick (18th Mar) break down as follows (gents/ladies): for recurve 521/497, barebow 413/424, compound 568/565 and for longbow 307/278. Full details of the National Finals are on the BUCS website and combined results are on the ianseo pages. For the links, see the BUCS Indoor section of this site.

There were two recurve scores in the 590s, with Sum Hin Moses Cheung (Sheffield) on 594 and Louisa Piper (Nottingham) on 592 the leading gent and lady. Yang Pei (Oxford) was second gent on 588, with Morgan Donaldson (Sunderland) on 586. Following the gents top 3, Joshua Phillips (Aberdeen) and Konstantinos Charalambous (Lancaster) both scored 584, with 577s for Oliver Taylor (York) and Luca Anghelache (Nottingham Trent). On the women's side Thea Rogers (Cardiff Met) scored 587, before there was a little drop. Hannah Evans (Nottingham) hit 579, one ahead of Charlotte Llewellyn-Smith (Durham).

In the other bowstyles, Ajay Scott (Kent) scored 594, matching the existing BUCS record, which was originally shot in 2008. Layla Annison (East Anglia) was top lady on 585. Henry Barnett (Exeter) and Marilyn Wong (Plymouth) were top barebows with 533 and 543 respectively. Barebow runners up Tom Underhill (Surrey) and Simran Panesar (Law) both scored 526. Kieran Rugg (Nottingham) was top gent longbow on 482, with Katie Axup (Loughborough) top lady on 402.

Rugg's effort is worth an additional mention as he is a novice and smashed his own All Unis record. The previous gents novice longbow All Unis record dates from 2013 and was exactly 400. Rugg scored 407 at BUTTS match 3 to break it on 4th February - a score missed by the Editor (Sorry!). Rugg then blew away his own record a fortnight later in such a way as the Editor couldn't miss it.

SEAL, SWWU and NEUAL all used these scores as a match round.

Surrey scored a significant win from these scores. A total of 2168 saw them win by 62, with the next 48 points covering 2nd down to 8th. Perhaps more significant was the ground they made up on East Anglia, who placed 4th on 2077, having been beaten by Imperial (2nd on 2106) and Southampton (3rd on 2096). The result means that Surrey overtake UEA with 55 points to 53. Imperial have 52 and Southampton have 51. A top two finish in match 5 would guarantee Surrey the title - their 4th SEAL title overall, but their first since 2009. For East Anglia to defend the title they won 12 months ago, they would need to beat Surrey by either 3 places or by 2 places and 45 points. By contrast UEA have at least one hand on the SEAL novice title. They won this match with 1492 and with nearest league rivals Imperial finishing 4th, UEA's lead stretched from 7 to 10 league points with one match to go.

In the SWWU match, Bath scored a narrow win over Exeter 2167 to 2157, with Bristol not far behind on 2138. Remarkably Bath, Bristol and Exeter are now all on 45 league points at the top of the senior SWWU table and it seems like this season could be a photo finish for SWWU. Bath's higher match aggregate means they ascend to the top of the table for now. Bath have won the senior SWWU title 9 times - more than anyone else - but they have not done so since 2015. In the SWWU novice table, Bath won comfortably and have 50 out of 50 points and with their nearest rivals in the league faltering, they have a massive 16 point lead.

The NEUAL fixture has not yet been extracted. Updated tables can be seen on the SEAL 2022/23 and SWWU 2022/23 pages.