BATTLE FOR TOP ARCHERY SPOTS HEATS UP

BATTLE FOR TOP ARCHERY SPOTS HEATS UP   Victorian archer Alec Potts wasn’t overawed by his first ever senior international event last month, but there was a moment when he had to pinch himself.   “It was pretty surreal to be standing shooting next to a guy that you’d seen on TV, and thinking about the records he had shot,” Potts said this week, as he prepared to head to Turkey for the second World Cup Archery event.   Potts was in Shanghai with the Australian team, competing in the opening World Cup event of the year. He finished in 54th place after shooting a score of 654.   “I was happy enough,” he said.   “I’ve never really done anything internationally on the senior stage before, so I guess I was satisfied.   “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. There were butterflies, but not as bad as I expected.”   Four Australian men were competing in the recurve event in Shanghai; Potts, two-time Olympian Matt Gray, London Olympian Taylor Worth, and World Indoor Champion, Ryan Tyack.   Not only were the four taking on the best in the world, but they were also in hot competition against each other.   Australia will take three archers to the World Championships in Denmark later this year. The Shanghai and Antalya World Cups are acting as an unofficial selection race for the Australians.   Potts says while he thought about the four-headed contest in the lead-up to Shanghai, it didn’t trouble him during the event.   “We spoke about it a bit after, we tried to work out where everyone was sitting,” he said.   “But to be honest it didn’t cross my mind once during competition. I almost forgot to be honest.”   For the record, Tyack and Worth currently lead the race for Copenhagen, with Potts ahead of Gray for position three.   And Potts believes he’ll shoot even better in Turkey this week.   “Turkey will be a whole different ball game,” he said.   World Cup 3 Turkey starts tomorrow – for results go to www.archery.org