UK Student Archery Association

Soton SEAL flawless Feb [27/Feb/12]

Results from the 3rd and 4th SEAL matches have been published with Southampton coming out on top in both, scoring 2195 both times. Match 3 was shot at the beginning of February, whilst match 4 was extracted from the scores shot at Telford.

Southampton's first 2195 featured a 570 from Sam Bird and a 550 from Brad Keogh as the south coast side finished almost 30 clear of Reading. Reading who finished 7th in the first SEAL match, before winning the second one, finished second here with 2166 to rise further up the table, Anthony Tang, Julie Chenery and Tom Castle all in the 550s. Imperial were third with 2118, despite no individual over 550. By contrast, Surrey's 2103 was very much driven by Matthew Sharpe's 586, with fifth placed London similarly grateful for Sherman Ip's 571 in their total of 2066. Essex were just behind London on 2040, with Sussex a hundred further back and Kent a further two hundred behind Sussex.

In the equivalent novice match, Southampton, Surrey and London were very much out in front. Southampton totalled 1461, closely followed by Surrey's 1443 and London's 1429. Top scorers in the match were Nimmit Prabhackar (Southampton) 527 and Robert Cieslicki (Surrey) 520. Imperial were fourth back on 1272.

The fourth round of SEAL has already been partially reviewed in the BUCS Indoor review. Southampton scored 2195 again to take first place by a dozen points. Imperial and Reading swapped places in second and third, the Imps' 2183 their best total of the season so far, Reading on 2165. Essex and London were not far behind on 2138 and 2134 respectively. Surrey got 2069, Sussex 1944, whilst Kent did not enter and recorded a DNS. Remarkably Southampton's near 2200 total did not have anyone over 560, with Theodore Chen-Sverre and Sam Bird in the 550s. Top gent Sherman Ip (London) and top lady Hannah Beasley-Suffolk (Imperial) both posted 573s, whilst Tom Castle (Reading) and Lifei Zhang (Essex) both got exactly 560.

In the novice match Southampton's 1484 was only seriously challenged by Essex, who got 1440, with London third on 1371 and Reading fourth on exactly 1300. Top scorers were Camille Roux (Essex) and Edvinas Cerniauskas (Surrey) on 525 and 524.

The results leave Southampton odds on favourites to defend their SEAL senior league title from last year, as they have a five point lead with only one match remaining. To overhaul Imperial at the finish line Reading will need to finish two places and at least 44 points (or three places) ahead of Imperial in the last leg - a tough ask despite Reading's strong recent performances. Southampton's novices have a perfect 40 points and need only attend the last match to be assured of the title. London and Surrey both have 31 and are in a shoot off for second.

See the updated SEAL tables. The final matches are scheduled to take place in March.