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Demand high for archery competition

Demand has been high from archers wanting to take part in three competitions at the Ricoh Arena in December.

Olympic archers Naomi Folkard, Larry Godfrey and Amy Oliver will be competing as Archery GB stages the Junior National Indoor Championships, Back 2 Back and National Indoor Championships in the Jaguar Hall on Saturday, December 6 and Sunday, December 7.

The 2014 Junior National Indoor Championships will be held as part of the Combined Indoor event while the Back2 Back competition is already full.

Over 1,000 archers in total are expected to be involved in the three contests from 9.30am on both days as Archery GB returns to the Ricoh Arena for the third successive year.

George Harding (Men’s Senior Recurve Champion), Jeanetta Braun (Women’s Senior Recurve Champion), James Mason (Men’s Senior Compound Champion) and Andrea Gales (Women’s Senior Compound Champion) will be returning to defend their titles.

Spectators can attend for free as competitors travel from all corners of the UK to the Ricoh Arena.

Tim Pratt, Chairman of National Tournaments for Archery GB, said the standard of competition was expected to be high once again.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to see Great Britain’s top archers in action in the Midlands as well as up-and-coming youngsters entering the sport,” he said.

“This has been another year when we have competed in competitions across the world and returned with medals.

“Places have filled up quickly because the Ricoh Arena is a popular venue with the archers and it has all the amenities we need.

“Sessions in the indoor championships have been alternated this year. That means the first session will be women’s recurve and men’s compound, followed by women’s compound and men’s recurve.

“Archery is a sport which really captured the public’s attention during London 2012 and we are always looking to encourage more people of all ages to become involved.”

Chris Owen, senior events manager at the Ricoh Arena, said he was looking forward to welcoming archers, officials and spectators to the venue.

“Demand for places in Archery GB’s competitions continues to grow each year which underlines their popularity as well as the Ricoh Arena as a host venue,” he said.

“It is an exciting sport to watch and it is great to watch the champions being crowned in the award ceremonies.

“The Jaguar Hall is an ideal space to host top indoor sporting occasions and we are continuing to receive regular enquiries from national governing sporting organisations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .