Drahoninsky tops European para champs qualification as visually impaired record broken

​Beijing 2008 Paralympic Champion David Drahoninsky topped men’s W1 qualification at the European Para Archery Championships on home soil in Pilsen, Czech Republic, scoring 654 out of a possible 720 points and pipping Turkey’s Bahattin Hekimoglu to pole by a point.

“It wasn’t my best result but it was really difficult in the windy weather today. I skipped the first elimination round, which can be always tricky in such strong wind, because everyone here is really good and well prepared,” said Drahoninsky.

The first round of matchplay took place at the end of the ranking round

“Now it’s only the best eight of us and I’m hoping for a bit better weather on Thursday,” he added.

Great Britain’s Victoria Rumary topped women’s W1 qualification with 637 point.

Top seeds in the compound open events went to Italy’s Maria Andrea Virgilio and Marcel Pavlik of Slovakia; the recurve high scorers were Russian man Sergey Khutakov and Turkey’s Yagmur Sengul.

British multiple world record holder Steve Prowse topped the visually impaired 2/3 category, 62 points clear with 615 over the 72-arrow 30-metre round. Italy’s Matteo Panariello’s 367 points in the visually impaired 1 category is a new world record, subject to ratification.

Competition in Pilsen runs until Saturday.

The 2018 European Para Archery Championships take place on 11-19 August in Pilsen, Czech Republic.