UK Student Archery Association

Nottingham defend E-League title [22/May/23]

Nottingham won the 2022/23 E-League recurve team event, with Yang Pei (Oxford) and Louisa Piper (Nottingham) winning the gents and ladies individual titles. Nottingham ended the season on 73 points out of a possible 75. Warwick took top spot in Round 5 March, but despite Nottingham pipping Oxford to second place in the round, Warwick could not overhaul the Dark Blues overall. Oxford were second on 69 and Warwick were third on 67. Birmingham made it an all BUTTS top four, fourth in Round 5 and fourth overall, but back on 49 points. Bristol finished fifth on 44, well clear of SWWU rivals Plymouth on 33. SEAL winners Surrey were 7th with NEUAL winners Leeds in 8th. SEAL duo Royal Holloway and Southampton rounded out the top 10. In total, 29 clubs took part.

Bristol, Leeds, Royal Holloway, East Anglia and Brunel all recorded their best ever E-League finishes. Nottingham and Oxford tied their best ever and Surrey their best since 2010. There were E-League debuts for Northampton, Salford, Ulster and West of England.

The West Midlands area dominated the novice team standings. Birmingham won three out of the five rounds, with Warwick (who won in round 5) in second and Coventry in third. Newcastle were clear in fourth, with Huddersfield and UWS leading the chasing pack. Birmingham and Warwick were also first and second in the compound division. Nottingham and Royal Holloway were third and fourth.

In the individual categories, Yang Pei (Oxford) and Louisa Piper (Nottingham) won the recurve competitions, defending their titles from last year, with 96 and 100 points respectively. Max Harding and Hannah Evans (both Nottingham) were runners up, with Callum Henfrey and Ecaterina Pogorenii (both Oxford) were both third. In Round 5, Harding made up a gap of 3 league points to go level with Henfrey and overtake him on aggregate. Wills Chiu and James Woodgate (both Warwick) were fourth and fifth gent on 63 and 60. Woodgate won 3 of the rounds outright, but gained no points elsewhere. Hannah Evans was second on 92 league points, exactly the same as last season, with Ecaterina Pogorenii third on 82. Just outside the "medal" placings were Imogen Newby (Surrey) on 69 and Hannah Burnage (Warwick) on 57.

Louisa Piper and Yang Pei both now enter an elite E-League group. Only 5 others have won multiple recurve E-League titles: Jenny Jeppsson (4 for Edinburgh) and Rebekah Tipping (3 for Aberdeen/Birmingham) on the ladies side with George Harding (Nottingham), Gareth Fleming (Queen Margaret) and Tom Hall (Warwick) all on 2 wins on the gents side.

Rafail Panagiotidis (UWS) and Rosie Evans (Nottingham) won the barebow titles. Rens van Velzen (Warwick) and Ted Underhill (Surrey) were second and third on the gents side, with Marilyn Wong (Plymouth) and Erin Ann Dobbin (UWS) second and third lady. Amy Bode (Bristol) and Sam Cartwright (Nottingham) won the compound divisions, with Mathilde Ducroz (Bristol) and Rob Casey (Nottingham) winning the longbow events.

In the recurve novice categories, Guy O'Keefe and Emily Nichols (both Birmingham) were winners. O'Keefe was miles clear of the gents field, with Bradley Hall (Warwick) and Chi Long Louis Chow (Coventry) next. Nichols had a relatively comfortable lead over Alia Ghosheh (Birmingham) and Jesse Chiu (Warwick). Leon Cao (Warwick) and Freya Rennie (UWS) were well clear as top novice barebows.

Details and links available in the E-League section. The Archive Summary and Monthly Winners spreadsheet have also been updated to include all the 2022/23 data. Scores can be shot for the 2023/24 E-League from 1st September, with the score window for Round 1 open until 31st October.