UK Student Archery Association

Dundee dominant in SSS double [07/Mar/24]

Results from SSS match 5 (held 10th Feb) and SSS Indoor Champs (held 2nd Mar) have both been published together - both were WA18s. Dundee won both fixtures and the win in match 5 meant that Dundee won the SSS league title for the second year in a row. Strathclyde were second in both fixtures and finished second in the SSS table as well.

Heading in to match 5, Dundee already had a 3 point lead and they secured maximum points in the match by a distance, with a WA18 team score of 2109. Strathclyde were second, back on 1924, still well clear of St Andrews who took third spot on 1866. UWS were fourth on 1809. Top individuals in the match were Misha Pavlov and Alex Lai (both Dundee) on 554 and 541. Grace Goh (Edinburgh) got 531. The top four teams in the match were in the same order as the top 4 in the overall SSS table. Dundee finished with 4 wins out of 5 matches and 74 points. Strathclyde ended on 70 points with St Andrews on 64 and UWS on 60.

In the novice match, the two host clubs were first and second, with St Andrews taking top spot on 1189, Ryan Tung on 467. Heriot-Watt pipped Strathclyde to second in the match. Heriot-Watt were four clear at the top of the table, but Edinburgh, who were second, didn't field any novices and dropped to fifth. Heriot-Watt ended on 72 points with St Andrews second on 65, Strathclyde on 64. Over their five fixtures St Andrews' novice team finished 5th then 4th, then 3rd, then 2nd, then 1st.

Edinburgh and Abertay finished 1st and 2nd for the fifth compound match out of five - in fact they were the only two clubs to ever field 2 compounds in a match.

The SSS Indoor Champs are a free standing competition that doesn't contribute to the SSS league standings. The team results here were a good deal closer, although it was still a Dundee-Strathclyde 1-2. This time Dundee scord 2016, with Strathclyde only 10 points behind on 2006. Edinburgh were up to third with 1959. UWS were fourth. Alex Lai (Dundee) and Grace Goh (Edinburgh) were top scorers on 546 and 545. Misha Pavlov (Dundee) hit 531. Heriot-Watt picked up a comfortable win in the novice team event, with Krzysztof Bladocha (Heriot-Watt) top novice score by a distance on 484. Edinburgh won the compound team match. Jake Walsh (Edinburgh) missed out on his own All Unis record - shot at this event last year - by a single point, with 588.

See results and final tables on SSS 2023/24 page.

Dundee claimed their second consecutive SSS league crown after another strong SSS season. Including the Indoor Champs, Dundee have won 11 out of the last 12 SSS fixtures. Dundee become the first SSS club to successfully defended the SSS league title since 2018. In fact, since then, the league has been won by a different club each time: Edinburgh in 2018, St Andrews 2019, Napier 2020, then Heriot-Watt 2022 and Dundee 2023. Strathclyde's second place overall matches their best ever league finish. They were also runners up in 2005 and 2019. West of Scotland's 4th place overall is a new best ever league finish for them. In fact, this is the third season in a row they have broken this record.

Heriot-Watt won the SSS novice title for the first ever time this season. St Andrews were runners up here, also an all time best finish. Elsewhere in SSS, Stirling made their first competitive appearances, bringing the league back up to 10 full teams. Stirling didn't shoot in the last two matches, so ended up 10th but will hopefully play a full part next season.