Andy Takes The Gold
A massive well done to our very own Archery GB Team member Andrew Brooks. Finishing his season off with a Gold medal singles and Silver medal team awards. Please read the article below from this weeks copy of the Sentinel.
Or you can view the article HERE.
TARGET man Andy Brooks gave a glimpse of his star potential when he won British Academy Cup gold and then national team series silver inside just one week.
The 18-year-old recurve archer had been aiming for a place on the podium when the best under-21s in the country shot off for the end of season Academy title.
But he showed an ice-cool nerve to book a place in the final after his last-four clash went to a one-arrow tie break.
And he produced an outstanding performance to whitewash Tom Howse 6-0 and take the title, even though Howse was fresh from winning silver at the prestigious Seoul International meet in South Korea.
Brooks, from Cheadle, followed that up by joining Caitlin McCarthy and Joe Grand for the national series event, when they only lost out on the overall title in a one-arrow shoot-off.
He said: "It's been a great way to end the outdoor season. The standard for the Academy Cup is always going to be incredibly high because it's all the archers aged between 18 and 21 on the Olympic development programme.
"I was hoping to make the bronze medal match, but winning the semi-final, especially the way I did in an intense tie-break, made sure I was relaxed for the final.
"Tom is a great archer, but there was no pressure on me and I had a really good match."
Brooks has been shooting since he was a pupil at Cheadle Primary School, but had only been focused on the compound discipline until he took up recurve in 2012.
He explained: "Compound archery is a recognised sport in Britain, but it isn't in the Olympics so there was no overriding end goal for me.
"My coach suggested I take up recurve and see how far I could get, and the past two years have been brilliant with getting on to the GB development programme.
"The Olympics is definitely the big aim for me, but in the short-term I'd like to get on the international circuit and test myself against the best archers in tournaments across the world.
"The main thing is that I love what I'm doing and even if I didn't get to go to the Olympics I'll still have a happy career."
The former JCB Academy student is now gearing up for the indoor season, knowing he needs to make an impression when the outdoor trials are held in April.
He will be aiming for a place in the top three under-21s to win a place in the national squad, meaning he will have to hit a score of about 630 from 70 arrows.
"I scored a personal best 634 a couple of months ago and hopefully I'll keep improving," he added.
"The indoor season is good fun but you get more distance outside as well as the extra challenge of the wind, especially in the Moorlands."