Nimes 2017: 10 things you need to know

The first international tournament of the brand new calendar year: Nimes. Somewhere around 1,000 archers of varying nations, skills and bowstyles and stage three of the 2016/17 Indoor Archery World Cup in a city that’s been famous for its world-class tournament for well over a decade.

Catch up on the results of the first two stages, held at the back end of 2016 in Marrakesh and Bangkok, and read the 10 things you need to know about this weekend’s tournament…

The Indoor Archery World Cup, unlike its outdoor counterpart, is open entry. There’s no qualification score and archers don’t need to be part of a national team to register – but plenty who do represent their country attend. It makes for an incredible mix of world-class athletes and aspiring intermediates, shooting side-by-side.

Around a third of those attending Nimes 2017 are from France, the host nation, and there are seven Rio 2016 Olympic medallists taking to the line, too… wonder who’ll get to shoot with the Champions, Ku Bonchan and Chang Hye Jin? (The target draw, rest assured, is random.)

The Nimes tournament lasts three days.

Friday 20 January: Practice and two qualification sessions.

Saturday 21 January: Two qualification sessions, followed by eliminations for athletes in the top 32 of each competition division.

Sunday 22 January: The secondary tournament, then junior finals – and then the main event. The championship bronze and gold finals take place in the afternoon.

Across all four Indoor Archery World Cup categories, there’s only one athlete who’s got a commanding lead over the rest of the field in the Indoor Archery World Cup rankings.

Mister Perfect Mike Schloesser, on 93 ranking points, has the top spot in the compound men’s list. With points in Nimes, he’ll not only secure a definite ticket to the Indoor Archery World Cup Final, shot in the evening of the second day (Saturday) of The Vegas Shoot, but a strong seeding for that event, too.

Nimes club member JC Valladont travelled all the way to Rio in 2016 for the Games, finishing second overall and landing home with a coveted Olympic silver medal.

Now the face of the sport in France, Jean-Charles will be on home soil, with the support of his home club – which would just be the perfect time and place for him to make a final.

The Indoor Archery World Cup currently features two level of tournament. The first stages in Marrakesh and Bangkok, which are smaller, award 50 ranking points to the winners and the top 32 all receive more than the single point issued for participating.

At the last two legs, in Nimes and (the first two days of) Las Vegas, it’s 100 points for a gold and it’s the top 64 that all get more than one.

Although the number of entries has decreased by approximately 15% since 2016, mostly attributed due to the increased entry price, the top-32 cuts in Nimes are mostly dictated by amount of world-class athletes in attendance – and that number hasn’t dipped. (The entry price was raised by the organisers to cope with increased costs, including security.)

The top-32 cuts, which chooses the athletes to advance to matchplay, for the four competition categories in 2016 (all out of a possible 600 points):

• Recurve men: 575
• Recurve women: 558
• Compound men: 589
• Compound women: 573

Higher or lower this year?

As well as hosting its annual international tournament since the early ’00s, Nimes has also played host to two World Archery Indoor Championships. The first occurred in 2003 and the second in 2014.

The city’s got a heritage of hosting crowd pleasers, which dates back… thousands of years! Its got an ancient Roman amphitheatre in the centre of town, which is well worth a visit if you’re making the trip to France. (I like history.)

One of the appealing aspects of Nimes, for those who attend for the experience or might not make the top-32 cut, is the secondary tournament.

Held early on Sunday morning, the day of the finals, it’s a short session in which archers shoot – and are ranked – on just a few end, with an opportunity to win archery equipment and prizes across the board.

In 2015, Mike Schloesser shot the first perfect indoor ranking round, when the world’s now number one ranked compound man and reigning Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion (outdoors) scored 600 out of a possible 600 points for his 60 arrows.

In 2016, Park Sehui edged ahead of the recurve women’s world record, scoring 592, two more than the previous best, which had been matched numerous times.

In 2017… we’ll see!

Last year’s gold medallists in Nimes:

• LUCA MELOTTO, Italy  – recurve man
• GUENDALINA SARTORI, Italy  – recurve woman
• BRADEN GELLENTHIEN, USA  – compound man
• LINDA OCHOA-ANDERSON, Mexico  – compound woman

This year? Tune in to results on www.worldarchery.org and coverage on World Archery’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. For the first time this indoor season, watch live finals on World Archery’s YouTube channel.

The third stage of the 2016/17 Indoor Archery World Cup runs 20-22 January 2016 in Nimes, France.