WORTH CONFIDENT AUSTRALIA CAN GET TO RIO

2012 London Olympian Taylor Worth believes the Australians are shooting well enough to figure in the finish of next week’s World Archery Championships in Denmark. 2012 London Olympian Taylor Worth believes the Australians are shooting well enough to figure in the finish of next week’s World Archery Championships in Denmark.  More importantly, he believes he and his teammates, Alec Potts and Ryan Tyack, have what it takes to finish top eight in the teams event, which would guarantee Australia three places at next year’s Olympics.  “There’s about 72 team entries, so to rank top 16 and to win out first match to get top eight, it’s going to be a tall order,” Worth said.  “I definitely think we can do it. We’ve been shooting some scores that have been very competitive internationally.  “We’ve just got to keep that momentum going for the next couple of weeks.”  Worth has proven himself as a pressure performer, qualifying for the 2012 Olympics, while Tyack is the reigning World Indoor champion. Potts is the new face, having seen off three-time Olympian Matt Gray in the race for the third spot on the World Championship team.  Two-time Olympian Deonne Bridger leads the Australian women’s team, alongside Queensland newcomers Semra Lingard and Ingrid Brookshaw.  Lingard, who won the Australian title earlier this year, is the form archer of the trio.  She performed strongly at a World Cup event in Shanghai, and learned a valuable lesson about dealing with nerves.  “I’m feeling pretty good about it all, but it doesn’t calm the nerves,” Lingard said this week.  “Especially as it’s my first World Championships, so it’s pretty nerve wracking. For the couple of days leading into the World Cup it was very nerve wracking, thinking about what was going to happen and how I was going to go.  “But once the competition started and you get into the groove of it, it calms the nerves somewhat.  “At Shanghai I shot a PB by about 14 points, the first time I’ve ranked in the top 20 at an international tournament.”  In the non-Olympic compound events Canberra’s Lou Redman has been in outstanding form all year. But it’s in the men’s compound event where Australia stands its best chance of a medal, with former World number two Pat Coghlan in career-best form as he heads into possibly his last event for the national team.