Exciting IPC Para-Archery World Championships

 This event was the biggest World Championships IPC Archery has ever had. With more than 240 athletes, it is a 30% increase compared to the event held in 2005 in Italy. The largest increases in numbers came from the compound division and this is largely due to the fact that there will be compound classes in Beijing for the first time at the Paralympics.
  There are 136 quota places available for Beijing and 51 of these were decided at these World Championships, the rest being taken from the 2007 Ranking list which will be available at the end of January 2008.   The weather in Cheongju was very good, occasionally a little windy but with no rain and plenty of sunshine. The field was the Kim Su Nyung archery field, and Kim Su Nyung herself was there throughout the week helping in a variety of ways. As expected from Korea, the archery field and facilities were excellent. Everyone taking part was also housed in the same hotel which was certainly five star and all parts of which were wheelchair accessible. It makes for a better atmosphere when everyone is at the same hotel.   The standard of shooting was excellent which can be seen that 28 new world records were set at the event. Alberto Simonelli from Italy in the Open Compound class must be particularly mentioned who scored a perfect 360 at 30 metres. Not to be outdone by the men, Danielle Brown of Great Britain (also Open Compound) broke the record for a 12 arrow pass three times, finally setting it at 116, together with a 36 arrow finals total of 345.   The Visually Impaired class competed for the first time at a World Championships, after being accepted in 2005. Although there were not many archers in this class, it created a lot of interest and many countries are now considering introducing this branch of the sport.   Also held during the week was the IPC Archery Sports Forum where the countries voted unanimously to transfer governance from IPC to FITA.   Ø      RESULTS Ø      PHOTOS   Ann Webb IPC Liaison for FITA