Apprentice beats master as rising star Cheshire scoops archery gold

This is the club’s open event held at the start of the indoor season which took place at Stratton Upper School’s sports hall on Sunday.

There were successes for local archers in the single rounds (60 arrows shot at a 10-zone target at 20 yards).

In the Gentlemen Longbow section, Kestrel veteran Mike Collins won a bronze medal with a score of 397, beaten by Hinxworth’s Derek Bridgewater (413).

However, the gold medal was won by Kestrel newcomer and rising star Matt Cheshire with a score of 417, beating both his tutor and bowyer.

In the Gentlemen Barebow section, Kestrels’ Peter Jupp won a gold medal with a score of 526, ahead of teammate Simon Kennedy.

He claimed silver with a score of 520.

Kestrel junior Caroline Tebbs won a gold medal with a score of 530, shooting with a compound bow.

In the Longbow Team event the Kestrel pair of Cheshire and Collins pooled 814 points to win gold medals and, in the Barebow Team competition, Jupp and Kennedy won gold with a combined score of 1046.

In the double rounds (120 arrows), Tebbs scored 1065 to win gold in the Compound Junior Ladies.

Roles were reversed in the Barebow Gentlemen section as Jupp dropped to silver position with a score of 1041 (526+515), teammate Kennedy winning with 1054 (520+534).

In the Gentlemen Longbow event, Collins won a gold medal for repeating his score of 789 (397+392) from last year to beat Bridgewater’s total of 784 (413+371).

Kestrels remain indoors at Stratton until the spring.

Anyone interested in taking up archery can contact chairman Martin Gascoigne on 07920 080 914.