NOVE MESTO, CZ – The first day of competition in the Para-Archery European Cup took place today in Nove Mesto nad Metuji, Czechia. The athletes were ready to take the field for qualifications following a pre-event training camp.

The training camp leading into qualification rounds provided athletes time to acclimate and prepare for the Doubles matches under a realistic environment. Other topics included, but not limited to, equipment tuning, testing mental competition processes, establishing realistic expectations and establishing open lines of communication between the athletes and support staff. These are essential components in developing high performance para-athletes.

Tuesday morning marked the beginning of the qualification rounds. Jean-Francois Lavergne and Shawn Matheson, Canada’s male recurve archers, started off the morning on the shooting line. Matheson shot a final score of 498, landing himself in 18th place. He will face off against 15th-ranked Dhanna Ram Godara of India in the first individual elimination round. Lavergne ended the 720 round with 384 points, resulting in him being 21st. His first opponent will be David Philipps from Great Britain. Both of these matches will take place tomorrow, May 17 at 2:15 p.m. local time (8:15 a.m. ET). Matheson and Laverge will team up in the doubles recurve men’s open competition to take on Great Britain as their opponent in the quarterfinal, first arrow is at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) tomorrow. 

“Today had its ups and downs but I brought it together in the end as I had a few days of practice at the camp prior to the qualifications,” Lavergne commented at the end of the day. “I felt like I could have benefitted with more practice but unfortunately my equipment did not arrive for a few days after arrival so I had less time to adjust and tune my bow and get it locked on the target so I went with how I was shooting on the day and adjusted accordingly. Of course, tomorrow is a new day and a new challenge and it is a fresh day to start on. During warm up, I will make sure everything is sighted the best I can and I will do my best when I get there.”

In the afternoon, it was time for the compound men’s open category to shoot. Three Canadians were a part of this group: Kyle Tremblay, Chris Waterman, and Rob Cox. Tremblay shot a total of 663 points, which meant that he qualified in 26th place. He gets a bye through the first round and will face Jere Forsberg from Finland, who also received a bye, in his first match up at 15:00 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. ET) tomorrow. Waterman is 31st after qualifiers, with a score of 655. Cox finished today with 638 points and a placing of 34th. Waterman and Cox will face each other in the first round at 2:15 p.m. local time (8:15 a.m. ET) tomorrow to determine who moves on in the elimination bracket. To kick off their doubles tournament, Tremblay and Waterman shoot off against Ukraine in their first matchup at 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. ET). 

“Today actually went very well considering the challenges we had with the weather,” Waterman summed up his day. “I met my expectations even with a few downfalls. All in all, I am happy with my performance today. I am going to keep focusing on my words of power that help calm me and keep me focused during stressful intervals and that is my main way of preparing as it is tried and tested.”

The competition continues tomorrow with the doubles and individual eliminations, the latter of which is part of the World Ranking Event. 

For all the results from this event, click here: https://info.ianseo.net/ 

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For more information, please contact:

Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator

zmeil@archerycanada.ca

(613) 260-2113 ext. 3