3 September 2009 - International Archery Tournament in Benin

International Archery Tournament in Benin Cotonou (BEN) – 3 September 2009   From 6-9 August 2009 an international archery tournament took place in Cotonou (BEN) at the "Stade de l’Amitié" with the participation of six neighbour countries. Thanks to the support of the FIDTA (Archery Foundation for the Development of Archery), the Olympic Solidarity and the local authorities this event was a great success for archery in that part of the world, especially for the promotion of our sport.   The Stadium was invigorated by spectators, and the archers were delighted. Six African nations took part in this competition called the International Archery Tournament for West and Central Africa (TIZOCATA): Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal and Togo. Bamboo bow, recurve training bow and recurve competition bow were the three types of bows used for this competition. The archers from Benin skimmed through the competition with the bamboo bows and the archers from Ivory Coast won the recurve bow competition. Ivory Coast and Benin disputed the places for the recurve competition bow and a team competition was also organised.   Medals Table:   Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Benin 5 5 4 14 2 Ivory Coast 5 1 2 8 3 Senegal 1 0 0 1 4 Togo 0 1 1 2 5 Guinea 0 1 0 1 6 Cameroon 0 0 1 1   Besides, on 5 August began a seminar for judges which continued throughout the entire period as practical sessions during the tournament. Moreover, on 27 July a seminar in the national language was held for sports journalists and presenters in order to teach them the archery terminologies. After the seminar a practice session was organised in order for them to gain practical experience.   A technical course for coaches took place after the tournament from 10-19 August conducted by Mr André KORLAAR (NED), who was assisted by Mr Paul ZINSOU (BEN), FITA Development Agent for West Africa and President of the Benin Archery Federation. The participants learned how to fabric strings, arrows and they learned the basic archery techniques bamboo bows and recurve bows.   Mr Paul ZINSOU FITA Development Agent for West Africa