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New national record-holder Ben Humphrys takes aim |
Ben becomes lord of the rings
Schoolboy shoots his way to national records at junior archery championships
PINPOINT archer Ben Humphrys is on target for a place in the record books after smashing a series of national scores at the Colchester Junior FITA Star Championships.
The William Ellis schoolboy shot over four distances ranging from 60 to 30 metres, where he was aiming for a 10-ring roughly the same size as a tennis ball.
Known as a Metric Two round, Ben, who lives in Highgate, displayed a magnificent eye for accuracy as he scored a total of 1,370 out of a maximum 1,440, beating the existing record by eight points.
The triumphant 15-year-old started the individual rounds by shooting at a target from 60m, where he scored 338 out of a possible 360.
He then stormed into the record books by breaking the national marks set at both 50m and 40m. At 50m he notched up 343 points out of 360 to take top spot in the British charts by a single point.
Ben, who trains at Hampstead Bowmen and 20/20 Archery in Islington, then repeated his success at 40m when he scored 342 out of 360 to break the previous tally, which was set at 339.
Afterwards, the Compound bow expert was delighted with his achievements. “In the past I’ve equalled four national records, but I’ve never got that extra point I needed to actually end up in the record books. So now it has finally happened, I’m extremely overwhelmed and excited. I haven’t been able to stop smiling since,” he said.
“I knew that with the way I was performing, it was only a matter of time before I hit the record books, and now that I have, I can stop thinking about it and just focus on getting even better.”
Ben is now just waiting for his new national records to be verified by the sport’s governing body, Archery GB.
Since taking up the sport just over five years ago, Ben has gone on to win countless trophies and recognition within the sport, and is even being tipped as a future Olympian.
He has already tasted success while competing for his country after returning home with two trophies and a gold medal from the Junior Euro Nations Championships, which were held in Scotland just under two weeks ago.
Joining forces with England team-mate Daisy Clarke, Ben excelled beyond his wildest expectations as he scored 858 points out of a possible 900 to win the Team Compound Trophy.
He also went on to win the individual Junior Gents Compound Trophy with a score of 863 out of 900, missing out on a new British record by just four points.
Proving that natural talent rules over technology, Ben also recently won a silver medal at the Junior Championships in Lilleshall, Shropshire, despite damage to his bow.
With a broken scope affecting his visibility, he showed dogged determination to score a total of 1,349 points out of 1,440. |
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