Jeewanram, Chattargum, Boodhoo shine at outdoor Archery C/ships

A total of 30 archers, 21 men and 9 women, competed in Archery Guyana’s National Outdoor Championships 2023, sponsored by Sterling Products Limited and Oasis Water, and hosted over the past weekend. Held over Saturday, August 19th and Sunday, August 20th, the action went down at the Queen’s College Playfield on Thomas Lands in Georgetown.
On Saturday, qualification rounds were literally hotly contested in both Recurve and Barebow categories in the blistering heat. The National Judges for the competition were DOS (Director of Shooting) Mr. Ryan McKinnon and Line/Target Judge Mr. Robert Singh.

BAREBOW
In the Barebow Men’s event, Jeewanram Persaud narrowly topped off the list with 601 points, while Mehandra Chatargum came in a close 600 and Ryan Chichester at 509 for 3rd place. Following up on points were Muhammad Zamaluddin with 499, Vishal Manbode with 452, Faraad Gani with 394, Richard Dookie with 358, Courtlee Rodrigues with 322, Jaza Percival with 305 and Afzal Karim with 297.
In the U18 Barebow Men’s event, Saifullah Gani scored highest (548) to beat Muhsin Wazidali’s 273 and Christian Craigen’s 119. Only three Under-18 men contested the category.
In the Barebow Women’s event, Roshini Boodhoo topped with 422, Melesa Ramnaraine scored 351, Julie-Ann Williams 259, followed by Fatima Ameera Gani with 211 and Karin Toppin with 191.

RECURVE
Seven men contested the Recurve ranking round, and again it was Persaud who prevailed. He scored 647 points, ahead of Chatargum’s 606. Saeed Karim came in 3rd with 571 points, followed by Vishal Manbode’s 489, Jaza Percival’s 488, Naresh Sukhu’s 444 and Faraad Gani’s 415.
In the Women’s category, Roshini Boodhoo again beat all her opponents to score 439, over Julie-Ann Williams’s 388, Samira Duncan’s 382 and Karin Toppin’s 212.

FINALS
In the semifinals and finals held on Sunday 20th August, the archers fought to medal in their respective categories. The Barebow Men’s Final saw Mehandra Chatargum earning gold over Jeewanram Persaud’s silver and Faraad Gani’s bronze.
In the U18 Barebow Men’s Final, Saifullah Gani copped the gold as Muhsin Wazidali took silver and Christian Craigen took bronze.
The Men’s Recurve saw Persaud take gold, with Karim taking silver and Chatargum taking bronze. And in the Women’s Recurve, Boodhoo took home the gold, as Duncan and Williams settled for silver and bronze respectively.
At the presentation ceremony, remarks were delivered by Marketing Manager Dellon Lynch of Sterling Products, who indicated that he was impressed at the high level of archery he witnessed, and presented each medalist with a tub of Igloo ice cream. He also indicated that Sterling Products would be delighted to see their sponsored event on the yearly calendar, and looks forward to next year.
President of Archery Guyana, Mrs Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, conveyed gratitude to the hard-working Committee and to the judges, and extended special thanks to SPL Chief Executive Officer Ramsay Ali, Marketing Manager Dellon Lynch, and Management of Sterling Products.
Persaud-McKinnon commended the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Queen’s College, Marcel Gaskin, for allowing the use of the facility, remarked on the ideal location of the playfield, and made honourable mention of Rhonda Ogle and Nardeo Persaud who ensured access to the ground was an ease.
The Board of Directors of Archery Guyana has said it wishes to thank our sponsors, our Competitions Committee and Judges Committee, Media and the Affiliate Clubs’ participation for another successful archery competition.