Ben Nott is out of the archery men's individual competition but not at all disappointed with his performance. "It was a ripper," he said.
Ben Nott is out of the archery men's individual competition but not at all disappointed with his performance.
"It was a ripper," he said.
"I went in with a real attitude. I was determined that I could do this."
Nott was up against the number one seed, van den Oever of the Netherlands.
Oever started strongly with a perfect ten, but Nott won the first set scoring three nines.
"I wasn't nervous leading into it and I definitely had him scared at one stage."
The dutchman narrowly won the second set and shot two tens to take out the third.
Nott remained calm, confident and focussed. He shot a near perfect fourth set to win that set with 29 points.
It all came down to the final shot in the final set. Nott matched Oever's first shot and then bettered his second with a perfect ten.
"With that last arrow I got a shock. When I realised I could beat the number one archer I lost it."
Nott missed out on advancing to the 1 / 4 round by just one point. He was disappointed but pleased by his performance and the experience gained.
"I take away that it is really important to stay in a light mood," he said.
"The more you enjoy it the more successful you are."
Nott will go home eager to return to training and focus on his next goals.
"I have a taste of this level of competition and I am definitely hungry for more."
Earlier in the day, Nott beat Koiwa of Japan in the 1 / 8 elimination round.
"I was really pleased with the way I shot," Nott said.
"I was pretty nervous when it came down to the last set."
The match lasted the full five sets. Nott took out the second and third sets with consistent form. He was unlucky not to have won sooner.
"When he scored only five on his first shot in the last set I knew I just had to stay calm and I would be in with a good chance."
Frances Cordaro
AOC
