The National Gymnasium came alive again on Sunday (December 2, 2018) when Archery Guyana’s Indoor Recurve Championship finals were run off.
The action began just after noon, following brief remarks and introduction of officials by Secretary-General Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, Director of Shooting Umasankar Madray and National Sports Commission Director of Sport Christopher Jones, who declared the competition open.
Individual Match Play commenced with Women’s semi-finals and quarter-finals whereby competitors were required to shoot four rounds of three arrows each with the aim of winning the round (two points) and trying to reach six points to qualify for the final.
This was hotly contested by the ladies as nerves seemed to play a part going to five ends, but the gold was secured by Narda Mohamed, giving Shereeda Yusuf the silver. In the Match-Play between Samira Duncan and Vidushi-Persaud McKinnon, the first end was won by Duncan with a score of 18 vs. 7, but Persaud-McKinnon won the second end with her score of 16 vs. 5. Thereafter, Duncan won the other ends, thereby securing the bronze medal.
In the Individual Cadet Women’s division, Talitha Kissoon and Jessica Callender went head-to-head with Kissoon winning gold and Callender silver.
Next were the Men’s Individual Match Play, with Umasankar Madray, Anand Mangra, Sean Duncan, Ryan McKinnon, Latchman Singh, Mohamed Khan, Jeewanram Persaud and Nicholas Hing in the Individual Men’s division.
The same four rounds were shot for the semis and finals as competition heated up. Persaud was knocked out by Madray, while Duncan knocked out Singh, Mangra knocked out Khan and McKinnon knocked out Hing to gain top spots in the medal matches.
Competition was stiff between Mangra and Madray for the gold with both men determined to win. The first end was a win by Mangra with a score of 21 vs. 17. The shooters both tied in the second end with a score of 19, thereby each securing one point.
However, the following two ends wound up with Mangra coming out on top, while Madray took the silver. Meanwhile, Sean Duncan and Ryan McKinnon battled for the bronze. After winning the first three ends, thereby securing full points, McKinnon upset Duncan to take the bronze medal.
As soon as the Individual rounds ended, the team rounds began. In much the same as the ranking rounds, excitement between the teams was high as they shot their rounds hoping to come out as number one.
The top team gold medallists were Umasankar Madray and Nicholas Hing, while team silver medalists were Sean Duncan and Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon and team bronze medalists were Jeewanram Persaud and Talitha Kissoon.
All medals were sponsored by the National Sports Commission and presented by Director of Sport, Christopher Jones to each archer. In his closing remarks, the Director of Sport expressed his commitment to seeing archery’s development in the schools and the regions, while working along with Archery Guyana.
Archery Guyana’s next and final archery competition to close the year will be the 2018 Outdoor Recurve Championships on Sunday, December 16 at the Carifesta Sports Complex Ground.
Results of Archery Guyana’s 2018 Indoor Recurve Championships – Sunday December 2:
Individual Women
Gold – Narda Mohamed – 77
Silver – Shereeda Yusuf – 69
Bronze – Samira Duncan – 62
Individual Men
Gold – Anand Mangra – 85
Silver – Umasankar Madray – 74
Bronze – Ryan McKinnon – 66
Individual Cadet Women
Gold – Talitha Kissoon – 65
Silver – Jessica Callender – 40
Teams
Gold – Umasankar Madray & Nicholas Hing
Silver – Sean Duncan & Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon
Bronze – Jeewanram Persaud & Talitha Kissoon
