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European Grand Prix - Purec - Croatia - May 2024
European Grand Prix 2024
International event based in Purec, Croatia in May 2024
The categories for this event are Recurve and Compound.
I used Pula International airport and stayed in a local hotel that was recommended by European Archery who publish a programme with lots of good event information via Open Wareos.
The Event
The event was very well attended by many 197 international archers from 42 countries, exact figures can be found via Ianeseo.
Great practice area and the competition field was also very good.
Result
This was my 3rd out door event with a compound and I scored 656 points after a slow start.
Then I was knocked out in the 1/24th head to heads by the Polish international archer Szelag Filip.
Conquest Cup - Istanbul- Turkey
Conquest Cup - Istanbul- Turkey
Conquest Cup - Istanbul- Turkey
The Conquest Cup is held every year in Istanbul in Turkey.
The venue is the Okcular Vakfi archery range.
I flew from the UK and competed in
Getting to the venue is very easy from Istanbul's main international airport and there are plenty of hotels to choose from.
The Event
Conquest Cup - Istanbul- Turkey
Conquest Cup - Istanbul- Turkey
This event is basically split into 2 categories, traditional archery and modern archery.
The traditional archery consists of all kinds of bows based on centuries of history, traditional dress is worn and it is a spectacular event. Modern archery covers recurve and compound archery.
Run over 5 days it gathers archers from a number of countries all over Europe and the world.
It was my 2nd outdoor event with a compound bow at 50 meters, windy conditions.
I shot 610 and was knocked out in the 1/16ths by fellow British archer Ajay Scott in my first head to head.
the vegas shoot 2023 & 24
The Vegas Shoot
The biggest international indoor competition.
It is a whopper and 1000's of archers from all around the world compete there.
550k in prize money, 6,000 spectators and 100 vendors.
Compound, Bare Bow, Recurve...it has it all.
Official Stage of the World Series Indoor & Finals
the venue
The venue has been the .............but will change to the Horsehoe & Paris Hotel in 2025.
what is the event like?
The event. Its big. There is always something going on and you can take it as seriously as you wish.
There are so many archers from so many countries who are there for one reason and one reason alone.....to shoot in the biggest indoor competition in the world!
The event is held in a hotel which is also a casino which is good if you like gambling but really bad if you do not like smoking.....smoking in the last venue was allowed indoors.
Apart from the stink of smoke the practice areas are 24hrs and can accommodate 100's of archers.
There is a lot of different places to eat and drink.
The other big bonus is the amount of retailers there are at the venue, all the major brands are showing off the latest products and you can stock up your own supplies.
Getting to the event is easy, I have travelled via JFK airport a few times now and it has not taken any longer than 20/30 mins to get there.
The Lancaster Classic - USA
Location & Links
Landed in New York, JFK from London and traveled to Lancaster by an Amtrak train.
We stayed in the Cork Factory Hotel and used an Uber to take us back and forth to the venue at the Spooky Nook Sports Centre and Lancaster Archery Supply. Both were around 20 mins and $20 each way from the hotel.
The Venue
The Classic is in a building that is 14 acres big, it is massive. Not only does it hold this event but there are football pitches, baseball areas, gyms, physio's, shops.
What is the event like?
The event, well the Americans really know how to put on an event. Thy are incredibly welcoming and there was not one person who was rude or made us feel unwelcome.
The photo on the left hand side is the Lancaster Archery Shop, just one half of it. The shop was an experience and the range underneath was useful to practice in.
The USA is very compound biased, the events are heavily attended by this class of archer and thus my class, Olympic Recurve is not seen as it is in Europe.
The only criticism I have is that I did not get to shoot with other recurves in qualifying, it did not help me.
GT OPen Luxembourg - Indoor World Archery Series
Location & Links
GT Open at the Strassen Club
Address -
299, rue de Reckenthal
2410 Strassen
Luxembourg
The airport is quite far from the venue, 45 mins
There are taxis that you can take and public transport in Luxemburg is Free!
The venue
The venue is really good.
This venue is an archery club, the Gullaume Tell Strassen Club, this club has an indoor 70 m range, great lighting and purpose built for the archer.
There is a bar inside and at the event food was for sale, both meat and vegetarian was catered for.
what is the Event like?
The venue is very good and the club members at the Strassen Club made us feel very welcome.
There are not as many trade stands as GT but there are enough to keep you busy for 30 mins.
Getting there is a bit painful, if you have a car then there is plenty of parking. I stayed locally at the Hotel Oliver about a 10 min walk away.
Just a few things, I am not a big food person but the hotel food was really nice and the rooms are really laid out.
The Kings of Archery - JVD OPen
Location & Links
Kings of Archery Series, Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant
About 30 mins from the Eindhoven Airport
There are buses and taxi's at the airport, I used Uber.
I stayed at the following hotel which is within walking distance of the venue Van der Valk
Link to Kings of Archery site https://www.kingsofarchery.com/
Venue
The arena is large.
The arena is circler and there are stands around the outside of it with various manufacturers and local archery shops selling products.
There is a bar inside that sells drinks and food.
What is the event like?
I quite enjoyed it.
The event is well managed and there are a lot of people competing which I like, it is busy!
Make sure you read the tournament rules, the scoring here is different from normal.
There is a nerves of steel event but is run by a selection, basically will have a slim chance of competing in it if your not a top archer. It is meant to be random but the majority of same faces get to shoot in it.
In the evening it is worth going out into the centre of Eindhoven, there are plenty of restaurants and things to do and see.
Including the Glow Show
Nimes - Sud de France
Getting to Nimes Archery Event
From the UK there are a number of choices to get to Nimes in the south of France. Covid has complicated this a little but you can fly to Nimes directly, Lyon and Marseille, there are other airports but I have not personally used them.
If you fly to Nimes directly, then you can get public transport or a Taxi to the place that you are staying. Uber works in Nimes
If you fly to Lyon, (Lyon Saint exupery) or Marseille Province Airport you have a few options, direct trains, buses, taxi or car hire. Personally I like trains, especially in France because they are comfortable and quick. Marseille train station requires a bus ride, you get the bus outside the airport terminal and it takes around 10 mins to get to the station. Sometimes you might need a connecting train.
Lyon, you need to take a few trains, one from outside the main airport terminal, The Rhone Express. This is a train which gets you into the centre of Lyon, the last stop takes you directly outside the main Lyon train station, Gare De Lyon Part Dieu. From Lyon train station you can get a TVG train to Nimes.
Use this link to get train times SNCF
The Venue -
Firstly, getting to the venue when you have arrived in Nimes, unpacked, had a coffee, look around etc is EASY!
The venue can be reached by bus and taxi very easily, it is 10 mins from the centre of the town and even in really bad French everyone knows it.
The venue is called the Le Parnesse, pronounce it the way it looks/sounds PARN ES SAY.
Address - 827 Chem. du Mas de Vignolles, 30900 Nîmes, France.
I personally get the bus, they are very good in Nimes, you can buy a ticket at the bus stop, scan it once the bus arrives and your on your way. There are bus stops outside the Parnesse. In fact if you get a bus from Marsaille Province airport the bus drops you off in front of the Parnesse.
The Berlin Archery Open
I arrived in Berlin via Branden Burg Airport from London Luton, it takes around 1hr 45 mins.
From the airport I took a train from the platform T1 to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Hpf). This is the same way I got back to the airport after competing in the event, it costs 3.80 euros each way and takes around 25 mins. I quite like the trains, they have 2 levels so if you arrive in daylight you get a good view of entering Berlin if you sit on the 2nd level.
Once arriving at Berlin Hpf I used my Uber App to get to my hotel via a taxi. Uber works really well in Berlin, for a taxi, electric scooter or even a bicycle if your needing to do a bit of exercise.
I stayed at the Hotel Vita Berlin, the rooms are large, showers really good and breakfast adequate, staff really friendly and helpful.
From the Hotel Vita, the venue that was hosting the Berlin Open 2021 Archery, was an 8 minute Uber ride. The venue is very close to the Berlin Olympic Stadium, really easy to get to and it was called the Horst-Korber-Sportzentrum.
In my mind this event can be split into 3 parts, practice which can be booked, Qualification and the second chance competition that runs on the Sunday.
If you fail to qualify for the main knock out stages then you get to shoot at the second chance competition on Sunday, this is what actually happened to me.
I did not shoot well on the Friday, score 533 and the cut for knock out stages was around 560, then I did better in the second chance competition on the Sunday I ranked 11th out of 77 with a score of 137, 141 won it.
All in all the event was well run and it was a good experience, I will return next year and am sure will do better!
I also am very excited to announce that pending set up and performance I will be changing bows for the 2022 / 2023 season. Currently I am using Gillo GT & G1 risers but I would like to change to the Novaery Aestus Riser and Stabilisers.
Why? Simple really;
1. Made in Germany by really motivated people who are environmentally conscious.
2. The look and feel is fantastic, just have a look at the products on the Novaery website.
3. If anyone else is inspired to buy one of their products, risers/ stabilisers they will give a small donation to The Motor Neurone Association of Germany. No other manufacturer does this, even though I have asked!
4. Novaery carbon credentials and footprint is something they really care about. Other manufactures, Hoyt, Winn & Winn etc should take note.
Icelandic Indoor masters Open Championship
2019 - European Archery masters, Torino, Italy
This was lots of fun....
When you enter one of these Masters events you get to meet a lot of people from all around the world who are there to compete but also enjoy themselves.
I drove from the UK to Torino, the drive alone was worth it, with a stop in Lyon, France on a very hot day, it was around 43 degrees!
Once arriving in the Italy, the World Masters Event was very well set up for all competitors and visitors. The organisation was second to non and all athletes knew exactly what was happening and when. Each athlete was given a welcome pack which contained, an identity ID, shirt, cap, map of Torino and details of their events.
Opening ceremony, parade through centre of Turin in Italy in 2019.
My Archery Journey So far.....
2018 - World Masters Archery Championships - Lausanne, Switzerland
Within 6 months of starting archery I competed in the Masters, the event was located at the world archery head quarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was an eye opener to the world of archery and immediately motivated me to enter more events.
The venue, World Archery Headquarters is near Lausanne which sits on the side of lake Genera.
My archery as you can imagine was shocking! In doors was ok, but I had never shot 70 meters before. I had decided that I was going to use my indoor set up for outdoors, in theory if you know what you are doing this can work but I did not have a bloody clue. In the first session I failed to hit the target until the 32nd arrow! Looking back on it I can laugh, at the time I was not very happy, but with help from the Japanese team my second session went better. The Japanese team basically set my bow back up and instructed me to keep my bow arm up, this was amazing that complete strangers would help out a fellow archer.
https://www.archerygb.org/overseas-archery-why-we-love-competing-abroad