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Belgian Championships in World Cup Style!
Lausanne – 8 October 2009
Gladys WILLEMS (BEL) 
The Belgian National Championships, that took place September 19-20 in the beautiful scenery of Antwerp, were strongly influenced by the direction FITA has given to the World Cup. In recurve, Nico THIRY and Sabrina STRUYF are the new champions, while Cedric VAN ELVEN and Gladys WILLEMS conquered the Belgian title in the compound division.
The Belgian National Championships were organized in Antwerp on the 19th and 20th September by the local club Drij Akers Ekeren (DAE) in cooperation with Belgian Archery Team VZW. The competition format was strongly influenced by the direction FITA has given to the World Cup. On Saturday, archers shot a qualification round, individual eliminations and team eliminations until the semifinals, while on Sunday a very nice location was chosen to have the medal matches: archers and spectators gathered on the bank of the river Scheldt, with a spectacular view of the skyline of Antwerp.
Due to the fact that Antwerp organized a car free day in the city, a lot of pedestrians had to pass the site of the competition. Our archers enjoyed the spectacular setting, and anyone who passed the competition site had the chance to try archery and have some extra information on clubs in his or her neighbourhood. This competition offered a lot of suspense to all the persons who had their first glance of the sport.
In total, 125 archers and 16 teams participated in these championships. Some of the Belgian international archers achieved excellent results: Nico THIRY (Recurve Men), Sabrina STRUYF (Recurve Women), Cedric VAN ELVEN (Compound Men) conquered the Belgian title, but the most spectacular effort was made by Gladys WILLEMS (Compound Women): for the first time in Belgian history, an archer won both the Belgian Championships Indoor, Outdoor and Field and also the Belgian Archery Cup in Indoor, Outdoor and Field!
Other archers were not so lucky: Peter VANDEKERKHOF, member of the World Championships team in Compound Men, shot a very nice score of 700 points in the qualification round, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Ivan DENIS, Indoor World Champion in the Recurve Junior Men division, shot 106 points in quarterfinals, which was not enough to progress. Ivan was also co-organiser of this competition and had been doing some major efforts, a fact that surely influenced his performance in these championships.
After the competition, an inquiry was made among the archers, and a nice percentage of 80% indicated that this was the format for the future if we want to put our sport more into the picture of media, sponsors and the public!
Kurts AERTS
Member of the Executive Committee, Belgian Archery Federation
Edited by FITA Communication
The Belgian National Championships, that took place September 19-20 in the beautiful scenery of Antwerp, were strongly influenced by the direction FITA has given to the World Cup. In recurve, Nico THIRY and Sabrina STRUYF are the new champions, while Cedric VAN ELVEN and Gladys WILLEMS conquered the Belgian title in the compound division.
The Belgian National Championships were organized in Antwerp on the 19th and 20th September by the local club Drij Akers Ekeren (DAE) in cooperation with Belgian Archery Team VZW. The competition format was strongly influenced by the direction FITA has given to the World Cup. On Saturday, archers shot a qualification round, individual eliminations and team eliminations until the semifinals, while on Sunday a very nice location was chosen to have the medal matches: archers and spectators gathered on the bank of the river Scheldt, with a spectacular view of the skyline of Antwerp.
Due to the fact that Antwerp organized a car free day in the city, a lot of pedestrians had to pass the site of the competition. Our archers enjoyed the spectacular setting, and anyone who passed the competition site had the chance to try archery and have some extra information on clubs in his or her neighbourhood. This competition offered a lot of suspense to all the persons who had their first glance of the sport.
In total, 125 archers and 16 teams participated in these championships. Some of the Belgian international archers achieved excellent results: Nico THIRY (Recurve Men), Sabrina STRUYF (Recurve Women), Cedric VAN ELVEN (Compound Men) conquered the Belgian title, but the most spectacular effort was made by Gladys WILLEMS (Compound Women): for the first time in Belgian history, an archer won both the Belgian Championships Indoor, Outdoor and Field and also the Belgian Archery Cup in Indoor, Outdoor and Field!
Other archers were not so lucky: Peter VANDEKERKHOF, member of the World Championships team in Compound Men, shot a very nice score of 700 points in the qualification round, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Ivan DENIS, Indoor World Champion in the Recurve Junior Men division, shot 106 points in quarterfinals, which was not enough to progress. Ivan was also co-organiser of this competition and had been doing some major efforts, a fact that surely influenced his performance in these championships.
After the competition, an inquiry was made among the archers, and a nice percentage of 80% indicated that this was the format for the future if we want to put our sport more into the picture of media, sponsors and the public!
Kurts AERTS
Member of the Executive Committee, Belgian Archery Federation
Edited by FITA Communication
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