EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
WHAT IS IT?
Long-running continental competition which has been won by Olympic individual champions including Marco Galiazzo, Sebastian Flute, and Tomi Poikolainen. This was the delayed 26th edition.
CAN I JOIN IN?
Nope, sorry. Unless you are sent by your national federation. So you'll have to get good, y'know.
TELL ME SOMETHING
The very first championships was held in 1968 in Reutte, Austria. In 2016, crowds of more than four thousand saw the 24th edition in Nottingham, UK.
MATCH TO REWATCH
Recurve highlights: https://youtu.be/ EJEQDBE09-I
Then Yasemin Anagoz and Gulnaz Coskun ended up facing each other – guaranteeing Turkey a women's spot for Tokyo. The match became a shoot-off for who would end up with the plane ticket, with Anagoz edging out the win. Her compatriot Mete Gazoz, one of the highest ranked archers without a spot, also grabbed a place by making the last four, after getting through a match with the bearlike figure of Galsan Bazarzhapov where the Russian shot ends of 29, 28, 29, 29 and 29.
Both Anagoz and Gazoz also appeared at the Rio Olympics (where they similarly qualified at the last minute). On home soil, they ended two years of nail-biting for coach Goktug Ergin, a man for whom securing qualification had become a personal mission.
“I feel that sometimes they don’t think of me as a coach, but as someone from their family to respect... I cannot be their father, but I cannot be their coach only. I need to be something in between.” he said afterwards.
It was also a late-doors vindication for the Turkish federation who had invested heavily in Gazoz and Anagoz; at one point, both of them were living for free in a five-star hotel across the road from the Antalya archery field.
Spain's Elia Canales and Ines de Velasco reached the bronze medal match of the same quota tournament, with only one Olympic spot available for Spain. With their coach withdrawing from the stage, the final match was turned into a battle for the place, and de Velasco went on to upset Canales, the top seed in the qualification tournament, to book a ticket. Florian Unruh and Ziga Ravnikar also grabbed spots for Germany and Slovenia respectively.
The big sideshow done, the European Championships proper could commence; traditionally a proving ground for gold medal ambitions when held in Olympic years.
Unfortunately Great Britain's recurve teams, who have been frequent medallists at this tournament were unable to make it due to quarantine issues. However, two British compound archers braved the quarantine vagaries (by simply deciding not to go home for a while), with Britain's 20-year-old Ella Gibson
"FRANCE'S LISA BARBELIN HAD THE WEEKEND OF HER DREAMS: WINNING GOLD AS WELL AS A TOKYO SPOT"
tearing through a strong field to eventually push all the way through to her first title match final against Tanja Gellenthien (neé Jensen).
On compound Saturday, the assurance that had seen her knock out big beasts like Marcella Tonioli and Sarah Prieels didn't quite stay with her against Gellenthien, and she finished six points behind the Danish archer. It was Gellenthien's third major win this year, after taking out both World Cup events.
The men's competition saw a bunch of lesserknown athletes make the last four which was eventually won by home favourite Yildiz Yakup, part of the usual strong Turkish compound entry. For the compounds not attending in Paris, the World Championships in Yankton beckons – visas and viruses permitting.
Over in the recurve competition, the Netherlands men of Sjef Van den Berg, Rick Van der Ven and Steve Wijler gained Olympic confidence with a win over Ukraine. “I feel
pretty awesome,” said Wijler, who left the individual competition early, despite his top seeding, and being the reigning champion. "For me, this is the first European title that we’ve had as a team, and this one was also a bit personal because I came here as a European Champion, and I lost that way too early, so I’m really happy to do it at least as a team.” he said.
The Dutch came from behind and hammered the result home with a final ten from Sjef to win the match. “It might have been nerves as well, but my bow was not particularly aiming in the middle... but I was able to pull it off and shoot it in the 10 anyways.” van den Berg said, with a characteristic shrug.
The Russian women bulldozed all comers on their way to the women's recurve title, and once again, the win wasn't first on their mind. “It’s very good that we took a gold medal here,” former world champion Ksenia Perova said. “Inside, in my soul, it’s great to take a medal. It’s a big motivation. It gives me strength ahead of the Olympics. It will make us stronger inside." It should not be forgotten that the Russian women's team scrapped their way to an Olympic silver medal four years ago in Rio.
Perhaps the biggest story of the weekend was France's Lisa Barbelin, who had the weekend of her dreams; gaining an Olympic spot, becoming the number one ranked woman archer in the world, and eventually, winning the European title with a victory over Karyna Dziominskaya of Belarus in straight sets.
It was France’s first European individual title since Berengere Schuh won back in 2008. Barbelin, who has been built up as the saviour of a slightly-listing French Olympic ship, came through at exactly the right time with some aggressively competitive shooting.
For the men, the 'hero of Guatemala' Pablo Acha; the anchor of the Spanish men's team, pushed past the ever dangerous Bazarzhapov of Russia to take the European gold, in the last set of open play. Will we see him – or anyone else – perform to this level against the best Asian teams in Tokyo? That is the question.