“It completely changes the game because you’ve got no wind, no changes in lighting – all you’ve got is your focus on your technique.”
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wagga’s Liam Mowbray is weighing up what’s in store as he prepares to fly out for his first attempt at the World Indoor Archery Championships in Romania next week.
A vet science student at CSU, he reckons he’ll need every ounce of concentration he can muster.
“(Indoors) it produces a lot tighter competition – I guess a lot of people can produce pretty good scores,” Mowbray said.
“But at the same time, your mental game is big because you can lose points more quickly than you can gain them, if you know what I mean.”
That means pressure, and against some experienced archers.
“I’ve had a bit of a look at some of the European guys that I’ll be shooting against and some of them have been producing pretty good scores, but in saying that, my upper end of scores is probably in the mix, so I’m hoping I can have a couple of good days,” he said.
Mowbray is coming off a win at the state field championships last month. That’s been his only event since last year’s World Field Archery Championships held near Wagga, in which he won silver in the men’s recurve, and rekindled his interest in the sport.
“My last comp was the 2013 Pacific Region Championships then I gave it away until last year when I found out it was in Wagga and thought I’d have a crack at it again,” he said.
“Then I was lucky enough to pick up sponsorship support with Benson Archery in Sydney and now I’m right back into it again.”
Originally from Possum Brush, near Taree, Mowbray expects the Europeans to have an advantage in Romania given there is virtually no call for indoor archery in Australia.
But with two gold medals and two silver medals at previous world championships, his resume suggests he won’t be just making up the numbers.
“When I was younger and I’d go to these things, I’d be aiming for gold,” he said.
“This time I just want to shoot well. I know that if I shoot around my personal best, it will put me in the mix. So my main focus is just to shoot as well as I can,” he said.
“It’s going to be a good experience and a bit of fun – we’ve got some tours booked to castles, like the Dracula castle.”
