Edinburgh is the first UK city to host the Archery World Cup Final, the biggest, most important archery competition ever to be seen in the UK. It is the culmination of four World Cup qualifying events when the best thirty-two archers in the World (top 16 men and 16 women) bring the skill and tension of knockout archery matches (two competitors going head to head) into the very heart of Scotland's capital city. At stake is more than USD 200,000 in prize money for the Edinburgh Final.
While ticket info and times have yet to be announced, the Archery World Cup Final offers a great opportunity for people in Edinburgh to watch the best archers in the world compete just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London.
It will showcase the archers' control, calmness, technique and concentration under pressure in the two disciplines of Compound and Recurve bows for the biggest prize money in the sport.
With thousands of spectators expected to attend and, say organisers, up to 250 million viewers watching the competition unfold via TV and internet the 2010 Archery World Cup Final is expected t be a great demonstration of the sport in the UK, as well as showcase Edinburgh and Scotland as the perfect destination for the world's biggest and best sporting events.
The event will be free for spectators, with a small charge for seating in the Grandstand.
At the event there will be a series of 'come and try' sessions organised by Archery GB and Scottish Archery.
Background to the sport of archery
The Archery World Cup currently consists of four qualifying (elimination) stages held in spectacular venues around the world all culminating in a grand World Cup Final where the top thirty two archers compete over two days.
Archery has been a permanent Olympic sport since the 1972 Olympic Games and FITA has held the World Championships since 1931. The Archery World Cup Final always takes place in an iconic venue - previous host venues have included theMayapan Pyramids in Mexico, Furj Al Arab in Dubai and City Hall Square in Copenhagen.
Bow types / archery disciplinesA Recurve bow,the Olympic discipline, looks much like a traditional bow except at the very ends the tips curve forward. Instead of looking like a perfect, very wide, shallow 'D' it has little 'S' type 'recurves' at the tips. These tips transfer a little more power to the stored energy in the bow limbs.
A Compound bow is designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw and a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot. It has a series of off-round pulleys or cams at the ends of the bow limbs that stores energy in the string itself as well as the limbs. The cam or cams (in a double cam) create far morr power then the same length limbs in a recurve bow. This system also gives the archer 'let-off' the maximum pull.
Some compounds have as much as an 80% let-off. That means that if the bow is set at 50lb draw, it takes you 50lbs of strength to pull the bow string back to a point (about halfway) the cams kick in and at full draw it takes 10lbs (80% reduction of draw) of pull to hold the string back.
This a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot
The Competition
- In both disciplines archers shoot at a target at 70m in a Knockout format - two archers going head to head
- For each match, there are 12 arrows per archer
- The archer shoots 4 sets of 3 arrows, alternately with a maximum of 30 seconds per arrow allowed
- The archer with the highest score goes to next roundIn the event of a tie, there is a one arrow tie-breaker.
http://www.archeryedinburgh.co.uk/
SIX GB ARCHERS TO COMPETE AT EDINBURGH WORLD CUP GRAND FINAL
18-19 September 2010, East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
A total of six British archers will compete against the world's best at the Archery World Cup Final, being staged in Edinburgh's iconic East Princes Street Gardens from 18 to 19 September 2010.
After winning a gold medal at the final World Cup tournament in Shanghai (31 August - 4 September) Nicky Hunt qualified automatically for the women's compound event in Edinburgh in top spot overall. Simon Terry (The Silver Fox) also secured his place in the World Cup FInal by virtue of finishing among the seven best performers in the Olympic discipline of recurve during the four qualifying events of the World Cup season.
For both archers it will be their second successive appearance at the World Cup Final. Last year in Copenhagen, Terry was a silver medalist in the men's recurve, while Hunt took fourth place in women's compound.
As host nation of the prestigious World Cup Final, where the top 32 archers will compete head to head, Great Britain also have one male and one female wild card in each discipline in addition to those who have automatically qualified by their World Cup ranking.
Judged on their performances at World Cup events this year, GB archers Alan Wills and Naomi Folkard (in recurve) and Andrea Gales and Chris White (in compound) have been handed the opportunity to shoot on home soil for World Cup gold and a share of prize money totaling $144,000.
For Wills, it will be a second appearance at a World Cup Final - he was a bronze medalist in Dubai three years ago. He was also part of the GB team at the Beijing Olymipics, as was Folkard, who will be making her World Cup Final debut. Gales and White will also be World Cup Final first timers.
In each discipline the best mixed teams of the World Cup season will also go to Edinburgh to shoot against the hosts Great Britain. In recurve, team USA composed of Brady Ellison and Jennifer Nichols will compete against Simon Terry and Naomi Folkard. In the compound, team Mexico, who finally won the place by claiming the gold medal in Shanghai, represented by Hafid Jaime and Linda Ochoa, will compete against Chris White and Nicky Hunt.
Rebecca Edser, Events Consultant for UK Sport, said: 'UK Sport is committed to bringing world class sporting events to the UK ahead of 2012, in what we believe is the most comprehensive pre-Games events programme ever staged by an Olympic and Paralympic host nation.
'The Archery World Cup Final in Edinburgh will provide an invaluable opportunity for British athletes to experience international competition on home soil in preparation for their home Olympics, as well as a chance to hone the skills of volunteers and officials.'
Thousands of spectators are expected to attend the biggest, most important archery competition ever to be staged in the UK. This together with the potential of up to 250 million viewers watching the thrilling competition unfold via TV and internet the 2010 Archery World Cup Final is not only a fantastic demonstration of the sport in the UK, it will also showcase the city of Edinburgh and Scotland as the perfect destination for the world's biggest and best sporting events.
Councillor Steve Cardownie, Festivals and Events Champion for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: 'It's going to be quite something to see East Princes Street Gardens transformed into an archery arena for this major sporting event and I'm sure the Archery World Cup will draw thousands of spectators, as well as being watched by many millions of viewers across the globe. Scotland's Capital has forged a reputation as a premier destination for top level international events, exemplified by the Super September of Sport we're now enjoying. Edinburgh's packed events calendar offers something for everyone, throughout the year, and its rich history, breathtaking beauty and excellent quality of life ensure that visitors return to the city again and again.'
Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland commented, 'Edinburgh will provide a spectacular venue for the Archery World Cup with the central and iconic location of East Princes Street Gardens creating a great atmosphere around the competition. EventScotland are delighted to be supporting this event and show everyone involved what a wonderful stage Scotland provides for world class events.'
The event will be free for spectators, with a small charge for reserved seating in the Grandstand. At the event there will be a series of 'come and try' sessions organised by Scottish Archery and Archery GB.
In September the (FITA) Archery World Cup Final will join two other major international sporting events - the 2010 GE Edinburgh ITU Duathlon World Championships and the IFSC World Youth Championships for Climbing - In Edinburgh's Super September of Sport - and will welcome thousands of competitors and spectators to the city.
There will be 32 archers - eight in each division - lining up in Edinburgh, including the Italian duo Marco Galiazzo and Sergio Pagni, who are the defending champions in men's recurve and compound respectively.
Men's Recurve: Brady Ellison (USA), Im Dong Hyun (Korea), Kim Woojin (Korea), Marco Galiazzo (Italy), Michelle Frangilli (Italy), Simon Terry (Great Britain), Jayanta Talukdar (India), Alan Wills (Great Britain)
Women's Recurve: Yun Ok Hee (Korea), Ko Bo Bae (Korea), Justyna Mospinek (Poland), Victoriya Koval (Ukraine), Gou Faping (China), Elena Kuznetsova (Belarus), Deepika Kumari (India), Naomi Folkard (Great Britain)
Men's Compound: Braden Gellenthien (USA), Sergio Pagni (Italy), Jorge Jimenez (El Salvador), Shaun Teasdale (New Zealand), Dietmer Trillis (Canada), Martin Damsbo (Denmark), Roger Willet jnr (USA), Chris White (Great Britain)
Women's Compound: Nicky Hunt (Great Britain), Ashley Wallace (Canada), Linda Ochoa (Mexico), Erika Anschutz (USA), Jamie Van Natta (USA), Sandrine Vandionant (France), Albina Loginova (Russia), Andrea Gales (Great Britain)
Archery World Cup Final - Edinburgh
Archery has been a permanent Olympic sport since the 1972 Olympic Games and FITA has held the World Championships since 1931. The (FITA) Archery World Cup Final is the most prestigious event in the sport's annual calendar [second only to the World Championships] and the biggest, most important archery competition ever to be staged in the UK.
The Archery World Cup Final is the culmination of four World Cup qualifying events (Porec, Croatia; Antalya, Turkey; Ogden, USA and Shanghai, China) when the best thirty-two archers in the World (top 16 men and 16 women) bring the skill and tension of knockout archery matches (two competitors going head to head) into the very heart of Scotland's capital city for two days of exciting competition.
Archery
The Archery World Cup Final always takes place in an iconic venue. Previous host venues have included the Mayapan Pyramids in Mexico, Furj Al Arab in Dubai and City Hall Square in Copenhagen.
Bow types / archery disciplines
A recurve bow,the Olympic discipline, looks much like a traditional bow except at the very ends the tips curve forward. Instead of looking like a perfect, very wide, shallow 'D' it has little 'S' type 'recurves' at the tips. These tips transfer a little more power to the stored energy in the bow limbs.
A compound bow is designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw and a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot. It has a series of off-round pulleys or cams at the ends of the bow limbs that stores energy in the string itself as well as the limbs. The cam or cams (in a double cam) create far more power then the same length limbs in a recurve bow. This system also gives the archer 'let-off' the maximum pull.
Some compounds have as much as an 80% let-off. That means that if the bow is set at 50lb draw, it takes you 50lbs of strength to pull the bow string back to a point (about halfway) the cams kick in and at full draw it takes 10lbs (80% reduction of draw) of pull to hold the string back.
This a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot
Arrows
Arrows in the classic bow events can travel in excess of 150 miles per hour. They are made of either aluminium or carbon graphite. Aluminium arrows are more uniform in weight and shape, while graphite arrows fly faster.
The Competition
The World Cup Final is restricted to the 32 best archers in the world - the 8 top ranked men and 8 top ranked women over the season-long World Cup series in each of the two disciplines, compound and recurve.
It's a knockout format event with two archers going head to head, shooting a maximum of 15 arrows in 5 sets of three arrows at a target that is 70m (230ft) distant. Each archer shoots alternately with a maximum of 20 seconds allowed per arrow. Each arrow is scored 1-10 depending how close they are to the centre. The archer with the highest score goes to next round and in the event of a tie, there is a one arrow tie-breaker.
