At Wollaton Hall (from left) Georgie Brown, Jon Bull, Rebecca Blewett and Ben Humphrys

Published: 5 September, 2013
by STEVE BARNETT

MASTER bowman Ben Humphrys has sent out a chilling warning to his rivals: “I’m back, and even better than before!”

The former William Ellis pupil joined forces with Georgie Brown on Sunday to win the youth mixed team event at the grand finals of the Archery GB National Series, one of the biggest tournaments in Europe.

Shooting eight arrows each in extremely windy conditions the pair demonstrated complete control over their compound bows as they scored 148 out of 160 to beat European champion Jon Bull and his partner Rebecca Blewett, who scored 140.

Ben, who lives in Highgate, finished in style at the stunning Wollaton Hall in Nottingham as he hit the centre of the target, which is approximately the same circumference as a coffee mug, from 50 metres to score a maximum 10 points.

The delighted 19-year-old revealed that he had not even thought about striking gold before the event.

“To be selected to compete in such a tournament is such an honour, let alone actually collecting a winners’ trophy,” he said.

“I’m ecstatic, I’ve been training hard but still was not expecting something like this to happen.

“This is one of the biggest events in Europe so winning and performing as well as I did should really raise my profile, which will hopefully help with future sponsorship and funding.”

Ben, who is a personal trainer and is preparing to move to Gloucester to study sport and strength conditioning, only returned to the archery scene in June following a 10-month break due to work commitments.

Despite admitting a lack of practice he could not be happier with his form as he set a new personal best of 1,343 in the outdoors circuit, a mark he has hit twice this season.

His efforts have also seen him presented with the Master Bowman title, the second highest classification in competitive archery.

“I’m very, very happy with my return to form. I’ve been working hard to get back to my best and I feel I’m definitely on my way back up the ladder,” he added. “Opponents stopped seeing me as a threat, so winning such a highly-regarded tournament is a timely reminder for them.

“I’ve proved that I’m still here and that I still know how to shoot.”