TALENTED archer Sally Gilder is currently representing Great Britain at the second stage of the Archery World Cup in Turkey.
The 18-year-old, of Evesham, has progressed from Archery GB’s Central Performance Academy and is now on the talent confirmation squad.
This tournament is her first senior international event and is a fantastic achievement for the teenager, who took up archery in 2006 and was placed second in the National Junior rankings in 2013.
The Vale resident, a member of Evesham Archery Club, will also be going to the USA for the Youth Championships in June.
Eight British recurve and eight British compound archers are representing GB at the second stage of the Archery World Cup in Antalya between May 26-31.
Four male and four female recurve archers have been picked and will be hoping to build on the team’s experience from the previous stage of the tournament in Shanghai.
A number of the archers joining the team have youth on their side, with Bradley Denny, Patrick Huston, Gilder and Becky Martin all in their teens, while George Harding, 27, has been shooting for 15 years.
Experienced archers are also well represented, with Olympians Larry Godfrey, Amy Oliver and Naomi Folkard travelling to compete, having kicked their season off at the first leg of the World Cup in Shanghai.
The second stage of the Archery World Cup also sees eight GB compound archers in Antalya competing against the best in the world.
The female compound archers include double Paralympic gold medallist and three-time world champion Danielle Brown, Naomi Jones, Andrea Gales and Lucy O’Sullivan, along with the male competitors Adam Ravenscroft, Mark Rudd, Duncan Busby and Lee Miller.
During the tournament, the top archers from across the world will compete on both an individual and team basis. The qualification round commenced on Wednesday, followed by head-to-head elimination rounds, with the finals taking place at the weekend at a separate finals venue.
Olly Logan, Head of Performance at Archery GB, commented: “We faced some tough competition at the first stage of the World Cup in Shanghai earlier this month and learned a lot about the level of international competition we will be facing this year. We are planning to use all that we learnt at the tournament to build upon our performances in Antalya.
“The entire team have been training really hard for this tournament and should be proud of what they’ve achieved so far this season. In particular, this competition will be an exciting opportunity for Sally as she takes to the world stage at a senior tournament for the very first time.”