When a few months ago I redesigned the layout of this blog and aligned it with my archery goals and dreams, I wrote in my mission statement that the “p² enterprise” was meant to help me prepare for the 2013 Archery World Cup. At that time I was not really sure which world cup it would be, but now it has been confirmed. I will go to the Indoor Archery World Cup.
The First Stage of the Indoor Archery World Cup 2013 will take place in Singapore between December 8 and 9, 2012. The second and third stages will be held in France (Nimes, January 18-20, 2013) and the USA (Las Vegas, February 8-10, 2013). The top 8 archers of any two stages will participate in the final, which will also be held in Las Vegas.
Having in mind that I’m just an amateur athlete with a full-time job, I have focused my goal on just one archery world cup. Of course, in case I finish in the top eight in Singapore then I might have to reconsider, but let’s not talk about the Las Vegas final just yet.
This is the second year when Singapore organizes Stage 1 of the Indoor World Cup and, according to Simon Wee, the Event Director (whom I had a chance to meet in Bangkok last week), they’re expecting more archers than last year (when floods in Thailand prevented the Thais from participating). Also, I’m sure the US$2,500 cash grand prize will attract more archers.
Last year, only 39 archers participated in the recurve men indivudual event. The top 32 qualified for the elimination round and the top 8 received points which counted towards the Las Vegas final. Last year, the top three archers in the qualification round totalled scores of 590 (ITA), 576 (FRA) and 572 (SIN). The rest were quite low, with the archer on the 32nd place with a mere 443 points (SIN).
If this will be the case this year, then qualifying for the second day of individual matches will be a piece of cake, but from what I gather, the standards will be higher this year. Last year’s medallists in the recurve men’s event in Singapore were Hsin Fu Chen (TPE), Aubert Thomas (FRA) and Yotov Ivan (BUL). I’m expecting all three countries to send strong representatives this year too.
Also, there will be a secondary event which will involve the archers “below the red line,” who could not qualify for the second day of elimination rounds. They’ll also shoot in an elimination-round system, but the winners will not be awarded medals and prizes but rather products from the event sponsors.
The good part about this kind of event is that anyone can join, no matter if the archers are in their country’s national team or are just club members. Archers will represent themselves and not their countries and thus there will be no flag-raising ceremony for the winners. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that both archers and the countries they come from will be proud of any achievements.
Although I live and train in Bangkok, I will shoot for my native country, Romania, which most probably won’t be represented by any other archer. The registration has already started and it closes on October 31. The fee is pretty steep at about US$160 but then, if you win, you come home with 15 times as much money. If you live in Thailand, you can register through Bangkok Archery – the event’s representative in Thailand and my equipment sponsor, or WorldArcheryCup.com – the official organizer. I haven’t registered yet but I’ve started looking for airplane tickets and budget accommodation. Singapore is quite an expensive city!
So, once again, I have a purpose in my training and you can follow me in archery daily updates and see how close (or how far) I am from achieving my archery dreams. 72 days to go!
Photos from thaiblades.com
