Triumphant archer Andrew aims high

A GIFTED young RGS archer chosen to represent his county beat competitors much older than himself to win two gold medals at a prestigious northern tournament.

This is just the latest of  Andrew Wong's growing collection of metal ware, including a trophy, shield and other medals and awards that he has gathered since he first took up the sport only a year ago.

The 12-year-old beat off stiff competition from junior archers aged 21-and-under from throughout Lancashire, Cheshire, Durham and Cumbria to gain the highest score overall in the recurve boys’ event for Yorkshire at the Inter-Counties Junior Archery Tournament, held in Penrith, Cumbria.

The only recurve bow style archer on the Yorkshire Under-12s team, he also won first place in his Under-12s recurve Bristol V round (involving six dozen at 30 yards, four dozen at 20 yards and two dozen at ten yards) with a score of 1156 out of 1296.

He is a member of the Thirsk Bowmen Archery Club, where he trains with his coach Roger Smart, an RGS past pupil, two or three times a week.

Andrew, from Ripon, who also enjoys swimming, chess and Dungeons and Dragons, said: “I first got interested in archery when a friend introduced me to it. I enjoy it because it’s a unique sport and great fun – I would recommend it to others.”

He hopes to go on to enter bigger competitions and win more prizes: “My ambition is just to get better at it and gain more experience.”

The inter-counties event was organised by the Northern Counties Archery Association.