With very little international travel on the calendar this year, our National Squads needed some competition. So we sent the National Recurve and Compound Squads, along with a small Para Team, to the Singapore Open. That made a team of 23, all looking forward to taking on local Singapore clubs and a number of international teams.
The aim of the three day event was competition preparation and execution on the international stage, putting practice into competition. It was very hot and humid, and with every team squeezed into a packed schedule, we knew we were in for some long days.
Compound on Saturday
Men
The compounders were up first on Saturday. We had four men on the line, three of them from our Para Squad, and Matt McDougall and Jono Milne finished first and second in the ranking round.
Matt, Jono and Pat French all made it through the first round. Lewis Matthews narrowly dropped out, but it was a great experience for Lewis in his first time coming into the National Team.
Jono was the most successful of the group. He reached the final and picked up silver after a mammoth match at the end of a long day in the sun, with his opponent putting down a flawless performance to take it.
The Para team of Pat, Lewis and Jono had a successful team run. They worked really well together on the line and claimed gold. We really saw what consistency looks like here, with nobody letting the team down and the boys coming through with some fantastic shots when it counted.
Women
Five compound women were looking forward to international competition: Liezel-Marie Roux, Vida Halimian, Robin Hastie, Georgina Graham and Yeji Kim. All but Yeji made it through the first round, and Liezel and Georgina went furthest, reaching the quarter finals before bowing out.
Then all eyes were on the team of Liezel, Vida and Robin. With some tactical coaching from Clint Freeman, they were set up for success and breezed through the rounds into the final against Indonesia. It was close the whole way through, but the women’s consistency and determination came through and they claimed gold. A great result for our compound women.
Recurve on Sunday
Sunday was recurve day. With a big field across the men’s and women’s events, we were preparing for another very long day, and managing the heat with limited breaks was a key factor for the athletes.
Men
We had seven recurve men in attendance, including two Para Squad members, which let us qualify two men’s teams. Australia and Indonesia topped the ranking round, with Chris Jackson demonstrating his class at the top on 685.
The Aussie men had a number of byes. Stuart Hulme and Richard Davis got some good matches in early before bowing out, with Stu resting up for the teams. We were expecting an all Aussie clash at some point, and it came when Ryan Tyack met Alex Smith. Ryan put down a consistent match to take the win, and the rest of the men made it comfortably through to the quarter finals.
For a while it looked like it might be an all Aussie final. Chris was the challenger for gold and Peter Boukouvalas was going for bronze, and after such a long day both had to dig deep and fight off the fatigue. Peter wasn’t able to keep up his quality and missed out on the bronze. We were hopeful Chris could finish off his stellar run. In a close match he fought back to draw some sets and keep himself in it, but couldn’t quite match his opponent. He comes away with silver and lots of learnings to take home.
The two men’s teams met in the semi finals, where Australia 2 of Ryan, Stu and Alex took the win, meaning both teams would compete for medals. By this point the light was going and exhaustion was kicking in, so the matches came down to who could hold it together and keep aiming in the right place. Australia 2 picked up silver and Australia 1 of Chris, Casey Isles and Peter picked up bronze. It was great to have both teams on the podium.
Women
Six women from our squad competed: Megan Denier, Lexie Feeney, Imogen Grzemski, Chevyone Cheah, Maja Kecskes and Laura Trezise. Four of them finished in the top ten after ranking.
All of our archers had a bye in round one, but over the next two rounds we lost the Aussie women, except for Megan and Imogen, who faced each other for a spot in the semi finals. Matches feel like a hard slog at that time of day, and Megan dug deep to get the win. She ended the day in a medal match and claimed a well earned bronze, having to keep her concentration going as the exhaustion kicked in.
On to the teams, where we had two women’s teams. Australia 1 of Lexie, Megan and Imogen made it to the bronze medal match and had a great finish. The team were calm and confident. They started slowly, then put the match to bed with some great shooting under pressure.
Medal results
| Event | Athletes | Medal |
| Compound Men’s Para Team | Jono Milne, Patrick French, Lewis Matthews | Gold |
| Compound Women’s Team | Liezel-Marie Roux, Vida Halimian, Robin Hastie | Gold |
| Compound Men Ranking Round | Matt McDougall | Gold |
| Recurve Men Ranking Round | Chris Jackson | Gold |
| Recurve Men Individual | Chris Jackson | Silver |
| Compound Men Individual | Jono Milne | Silver |
| Recurve Men’s Team (Australia 2) | Ryan Tyack, Stuart Hulme, Alex Smith | Silver |
| Compound Men Ranking Round | Jono Milne | Silver |
| Recurve Men’s Team (Australia 1) | Chris Jackson, Casey Isles, Peter Boukouvalas | Bronze |
| Recurve Women Individual | Megan Denier | Bronze |
| Recurve Women’s Team (Australia 1) | Lexie Feeney, Imogen Grzemski, Megan Denier | Bronze |
A successful trip
Overall, it was a very successful trip and a great event that proved challenging but rewarding. We saw the athletes put into play what they have been practising and pick up some valuable lessons along the way. It was also a great opportunity to compete against international archers, who made us feel very welcome.
A big thank you to the staff who put in huge days to support the archers: Ricci Cheah, Graham Winston, Sarah Fuller, Tim Allen and Clint Freeman. And thank you to Singapore Archery for having us.
Thanks also to @cuonglamphotography for the amazing photography!
