Following a long and intense training programme and participation in an outdoor shooting programme prepared by John Schembri, local archers competed in the final shoot which was valid for the assignment of the national championship titles.

This event, which was held at the association’s outdoor range in Marsa, included competitions in five different categories and for the first time the association also organised a bare bow competition. The finals for the senior categories were disputed on a FITA round which is based on four rounds of 36 arrows each shot from distances which start at 90 metres down to 30 metres.

This year the association also registered a record number of juniors who this year participated in practically all of the outdoor shoots which have been running on alternate weekends since February.

Luke Pellicano was leading the tables in the junior recurve category after the first day with an aggregate of 599 whilst in second place was Daniel Mangion with 527 and with just one point adrift, Jonathan Ellul.

On the second day of competition, Pellicano retained his lead to end up winner of this category with a total score of 1,159 whilst the tussle for second place went in favour of Mangion who managed to shoot 1,080 against Ellul’s 1,041.

In the senior recurve category, Kevin Bonnici and Sebastian Aquilina were almost head to head after the first two distances of 90 and 70 metres. Bonnici ended the day leading the group with a score of 498 while Aquilina was trailing close behind with a total of 494. Mario Galea and Joe Sultana were also closely paired for third place with the latter archer slightly outperforming Galea to end day one in third place behind Aquilina.

On the subsequent two rounds disputed on the shorter distances of 50 and 30 metres, Bonnici kept up his good shooting and retained his overall margin to end up as national champion for the senior recurve category making it a double after he had already won the title for the indoor national championship. Aquilina finished second with a total of 1,037 and also achieved his 1,000 Fita Star award, whilst Joe Sultana finished third with a score of 927.

In the female recurve category, Maria Formosa managed to make one of her best performances when she shot a remarkable aggregate of 1,133. On the longer distances of 70 and 60 metres she shot 541 and repeated her good performance on the shorter distances with another notable score of 592.

John Pace also repeated a double when he won the title of national outdoor champion for the senior category in the compound division after winning the indoor championships last December. Dion Buhagiar placed second whilst close in third with a minimal margin of five points, followed Tony Falzon.

At the close of day one, Pace had shot a score of 619 whilst Falzon was in second place with 606 – 10 points more than third placed Buhagiar.

On the 50 metre distance and despite the stiff competition, Pace retained his cool and continued to increase his lead over the other contestants whilst Buhagiar managed to shoot a total of 315 which was 12 points more than the score obtained by Falzon and enough to see him go through to second place with a margin of two points.

The last 36 arrows on the 30 metres are always the most intense. John Pace shot 349 out of a maximum of 360 to end the day on top of the table with a remarkable score of 1,296 – five less than the national record. Dion Buhagiar managed to retain the lead on Falzon and shot 346 to Falzon’s 343 thus ending as runner up with Falzon finishing third.

The events for the national championships were judged by international FITA judge John Collins while John Schembri and Dr Raphael Patiniott were Director of Shoot and Scoring Official respectively.

Although the official outdoor shooting programme came to an end last weekend, local archers will still continue to train throughout summer in preparation for the next programme which starts in September.

During the summer recess, activity at the Marsa range will still continue and the association will once again be organising a series of summer classes for beginners and introductory courses for those wishing to try out this sport. Anyone interested in attending these classes or to learn more about archery may call on 99450877.