Belarusian archers will try hard in Minsk to replicate their success at the 1st European Games in Baku. This, however, will be hard to do, head coach of the Belarusian archery national team Ekaterina Timofeyeva told the media at the press center of the Belarus today publishing house on 19 March.
The Belarusian archers clinched silver and bronze at the 1st European Games in the capital of Azerbaijan.
Ekaterina Timofeyeva stressed that the goal was set to perform at a high level at the upcoming multisport forum in Belarus. “We will do our best to repeat the result achieved at the 1st European Games. The leaders of the archery team are the same: Anton Prilepov and Anna Marusova. At the recent European Championships the Belarusian girls finished fourth, which indicates a great potential for the summer season,” she said.
Pavel Dalidovich, one of the leaders of the men’s team stated that there will be serious competition for a place in the team (three archers). “In my opinion, there are about ten athletes claiming the place in the men’s team now. We hope that such competition will help select the best athlete for the European Games,” the athlete said.
According to the head coach, no decision has been made on the women’s team as well. “Apart from experienced athletes, we have talented young people. For example, Karina Kozlovskaya, who is already on the national team, can show high results. The summer season is coming. We will able to decide on the final roster after the tournaments in Turkey and the Grand Prix in Bucharest in April, and also the Antalya World Cup in May,” said Ekaterina Timofeyeva.
According to her, Belarus’ major rivals at the 2nd European Games will be teams from Russia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
The test archery tournament will be held as part of the Belarusian championship at the Olympiysky sport center on 2-5 May. “We will check the targets. Perhaps, the chief referee from the World Archery Europe will pay a visit, make recommendations ahead of the tournament at the 2nd European Games. Technically we are ready for the competitions,” chairman of the Belarusian Archery Federation Sergei Shchemelev said. In summer 2019 Belarusian archers will compete for Olympic berths at the World Archery Championships in the Netherlands on 9-16 June and the 2nd European Games in Minsk.
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