Hi everyone
My name is Phillip Tranter and I have been
asked to write a blog about my experiences as a blind archer at the
Para Archery World Championship in Holland in June 2019.
I was extremely pleased and honoured to be chosen to
attend the Championships, along with my full time spotter Marina. Even though I
had a place, I knew it was going to be tough, as I had been having a few issues
with my performance. Realistically, I was hoping to achieve a good placement,
if I was able to medal, it would be absolutely terrific!
We found out the attendance at the Worlds this year was
the highest ever with 301 athletes due to compete. For the visually impaired
section, we had 17 athletes from 9 different countries, also a record for us.
We flew out to Holland on Saturday 1st of June and met up
with the rest of the team at our Hotel in Koningshof. Following our orientation
to the hotel, which was a vast 3 storey complex, set in its own largely wooded
grounds, we settled in and got our bearings. A meeting after dinner was
arranged and we went over the itinerary for the next few days. Our venue for
the Championship was at a large Rugby field in Eindhoven and we had to adhere strictly to the time
slots given to us.
Sunday was a sunny and very warm day, 30 degrees, this
was our official practice session of 3 hours. This included, the setting up and
removal of equipment, so we had to make the most of the time given. The field
was very busy, with a total of 40 targets in use. We had 9 targets, which were
set at 30 metre distance. The other targets were for the archers with physical
disabilities and set at distances of 50 and 70 metres. When practice was
finished, we went to see the other Team GB archers, to catch up on how they
were.
Over the next two days we all would have
Elimination and Head to Head rounds. When we were not actually shooting, then
we would be supporting and cheering on our compatriots.
In the elimination round, I managed to come 5th, which I
was quite pleased with. This meant, on Tuesday, I was going head to head with
Mark Schrand from the USA, who had come 4th. Whoever won this round, would go
forward to contest the Bronze Medal.
Tuesday afternoon, was another cloudy but warm day, storm
showers were expected later. I was nervous and tried hard to contain this in
the run up to the match. The scoring system for the round was, 12 arrows each,
in rounds of 3. The highest score was awarded 2 points, a tie was 1 point each,
first to 6 points was the winner. I managed to win my head to head 6 points to
2. I was mightily relieved to have progressed through to contest the Bronze
medal.
Later that evening the storm arrived, with loud thunder claps, brilliant
flashes of lightening , hail and torrential rain, lasting well past midnight. Thankfully, by the time finals took place at 2pm, it was
dry and sunny again.
The Bronze medal match was against my fellow team mate
Nick Thomas, it’s always more difficult to shoot against someone who you know.
The scoring system was the same, first to 6 points was the winner. We were
close in scores, but each time Nick managed to get one or two points more than
me. Alas, he won 6-0, I will have to hope for a rematch if we get to the
Europeans next year. Even so, I am still ranked 4th in the World. Steve Prowse
won Gold, for team GB, his 3rd World title.
After a mad dash back to the hotel to eat and pack, we
were on our way back to the airport by 9pm. We arrived at our hotel at 10.30 pm
and were just in time for a quick celebratory drink before bed and an early
flight home the next day.
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