News

First-ever under-21 champions of Indoor World Series crowned in Nimes

22 January 2023

Nimes, France

Real name:

Israel’s Roy Dror, Mila Fremery Delestran and Victor Bouleau of France, and Türkiye’s Irmak Yuksel were crowned the first under-21 champions of the Indoor Archery World Series this morning in Nimes.

The youth championship events were added ahead of this season.

France’s two winners on home soil needed shoot-offs to complete their finals. Fremery beat Spanish international Leyre Fernandez, nine to eight, in the recurve women’s title match while compounder Bouleau dropped Aljaz Brenk, 10 to nine, after a tie in regulation at 144 points.

“It’s so cool,” said Fremery, who is just 15 years old, in the post-match interview.

“I didn’t concentrate on my opponent. I just did the same as always, concentrated on my arrows and it went well.”

Dror dominated the recurve men’s under-21 event from start to finish.

The 18-year-old seeded top with a 584-point qualifying round, which would have put him through the senior cut, and shot just one set (in 17) of less than 29 points in matchplay.

His final against Croatian archer Leo Sulik was done quickly – a straight-set victory opened and capped with perfect 30s.

“I just kept in my mind that I should shoot fast and not overthink things,” said Dror. “It went well.”

It’s a promising sign for Israel, a team that invested in a new head coach – British Olympian Richard Priestman – last season, with a view to sending an archer to a second consecutive Olympics.

Competition at the Sud de France Archery Tournament concludes this afternoon with the event’s senior finals.