UK Student Archery Association

TOUCAN leg 3, leg 2 and div 2 leg 3 [08/Mar/24]

TOUCAN match 3 concluded on 24th Feb, the week before TOUCAN match 2 did. This wrapped up on 2nd Mar, with TOUCAN div 2 match 3 taking place entirely on the same date. The fixtures produced wins for Oxford, Nottingham and Leicester. These results now mean that all teams in TOUCAN have completed 3 league matches, with only the TOUCAN Indoor Champs to go. They take place this weekend, on 10th Mar, in Nottingham.

Most of div 1 match 3 took place over the weekend of 3rd/4th Feb, with Oxford posting 2288 and Warwick 2214. The last 3 teams shot 3 weekends later, with Nottingham posting 2260 in response. Birmingham (2173) and Nottingham Trent (2158) also shot in this later segment and were fourth and fifth in the match.

Match 2 was shot in only 2 venues, with the Derby hosted section being split between Nottingham (20th Jan) and a rearranged Warwick date of 2nd Mar. Nottingham scored 2284 but had to wait a full 42 days to see if Oxford would beat it. In a mirror image of match 3, this time it was Oxford who fell short of Nottingham's mark, with the Dark Blues on 2269. Loughborough (2198) and Warwick (2193) also shot in this later segment and were third and fourth in the match.

The top individual scorers across the two matches were Louisa Piper (Nottingham) and Yang Pei (Oxford). Piper scored 590 and 584, Pei hit 586 both times. Ecaterina Pogorenii (Oxford) shot 579 and 572, with Hannah Evans (Nottingham) adding 560 and 569. In match 3, Luca Anghelache (N Trent) and Wills Chiu (Warwick) scored 578 and 576, with 562 and 561 from Amanda Liu and Samuel Walby (both Oxford). In match 2, Dominic Kelsey (Nottingham) scored 569 and there was a 560 from Florence Levitt (Loughborough).

Warwick were the runaway winners of both novice fixtures on (Portsmouth team of 4) scores of 2033 (match 3) and 2052 (match 2). Nottingham were second on both occasions. Anna David (Loughborough) with 523 was top individual novice in match 3, with Richard Aldis (Warwick) top novice in match 2 with 542.

See results and updated tables on TOUCAN 2023/24 page.

The situation at the top of the TOUCAN table is nearly a straight shoot off, but not quite. Nottingham have 26 points to Oxford's 25 and they have a very slight advantage in aggregate - 6775 vs 6768. In order to win a third straight TOUCAN title, the Dark Blues must beat Nottingham either by two (or more) places or by a margin of at least 7 points. If Nottingham can avoid that, then they will be crowned champions instead. Nottingham have won the TOUCAN title twice, in 2010, then again in 2011. Oxford have won it 3 times, including the last two.

In the novice table, Warwick and Nottingham both have 24 points, so here, it will be a straight shoot out.

In division 2, Leicester have 3 wins out of 3 and lead with 15 points to Coventry's 11. With only 5 points available for a div 2 match win, Leicester are all but assured of winning. The situation in the div 2 novice table is exactly the same.

For the first time, there will be a process for promotion and relegation between the two TOUCAN divisions. The current 9+5 set up is moving to 8+6. The 8 teams with (excluding their lowest score) the highest match average, will be in div 1 next season. This evokes a very old TOUCAN rule, last used in the 2006/07 season, where in the final league table itself, clubs would discard their lowest total.

Derby have not recorded any scores this season and will drop down into division 2 next season. Nottingham Trent's low aggregate is caused by a DNS in match 2. Discarding their worst result however will mean that Trent are unlikely to get dragged into the relegation mix, unless they have a very poor result at the Indoor Champs. More likely, two out of De Montfort, Cambridge, Leicester and Coventry will be in division 1 next year and two will not. Leicester look in a strong position to take one of those spaces, whilst Cambridge look most likely to go down. De Montfort's aggregate advantage over Coventry may look like 98 at the moment, but when both discard their lowest total from the 3 matches shot so far, the gap shrinks to a mere 35 points.

As well as the TOUCAN Indoor Champs, SWWU match 7 also takes place this weekend.