A HOST of Commonwealth Games stars competed alongside some of the town’s best at an archery competition held in Evesham.

Medallists at this year’s Delhi Games, including three members of the gold medal-winning men’s compound team, shot at Evesham Archery Club’s International Archery Federation (FITA) 18 tournament, held at Prince Henry’s cricket hall.

The Fita 18 round is shot at 18 metres, or 20 yards, on a demanding small target face.

It is one of two indoor distances, the other is 25m and the maximum score possible is 600.

The prestigious event not only attracted some of the winning squad from Delhi but also other archers from around the country, including Chorley, Stourbridge, Lutterworth and various other clubs in Worcestershire. In the men’s compound section, Commonwealth Games champion Duncan Busby was victorious with a score of 593, which was only four short of the world record. Highest-placed Evesham archer was Ian Trout with 539 in 13th position.

In the women’s compound section, Commonwealth Games medallist Nichola Simpson was beaten into second place by fellow Great Britain archer Andrea Gales with a score of 580.

A fifth-placed finish saw Sarah Trout (517) as the highest-graded Evesham archer in this category.

In the men’s recurve bow section the competition was won by Ashe Morgan from Cheltenham Archers with 557. Highest-placed Evesham archer was Mike Gilder in ninth with 510.

The ladies’ recurve was won by games medallist Naomi Folkard with 568. The highest Evesham archer was Linda Haines in fifth with 522.

The junior ladies recurve was won by Hannah Beasley-Suffolk from Malvern with 534, Sally Gilder of Evesham was fourth with 40 at Sunday’s event.

Other Evesham Archers who shot in the tournament were Joan Lunt, Sue Gilder and Richard Szabranski.

Competition is divided into ends and the archer shoots either three or six arrows per end, depending on the type of round.

After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows.

There are 20 ends of three arrows in a standard round of indoor competition, such as the FITA 18. Archers have a set time limit in which to shoot their arrows.

For indoor competition, under FITA rules this is two minutes for three arrows.

All of these top Great Britain archers will be seen shooting again outdoors on May 22, 2011 when Evesham Archery Club host the first leg of the GB National Series at Badsey Recreation Club.

Anyone wishing to sponsor this event can email Linda Haines at lindahaines1@btinternet.com.

Sue Gilder, an Evesham Archery Club member, said: “The shoot ran extremely well with no hold-ups.

“All the archers were very happy with how the shoot was run.

“Many of the archers complemented the club on how professional our shoots are.”