BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
YOUNG barebow archer, Robson Talu is raising his hopes for team Solomon Islands archery’s performance at the Pacific Games 2023 in Honiara after scooping a bronze at this year’s World Archery Oceania Championships at Adelaide, South Australia.
Although it’s quite uncertain whether to win a gold medal for the country in the sport of archery, the 23-year–old Talu from Isabel province told RAW SPORTS that he is working very hard on some of his weaknesses and hopes to secure a Gold for the country in this year’s Games on November.
Talo also left a strong impression ahead of his Pacific Games debut that he is now more than confident to make a difference among the top archers in the Oceania region.
Solomon Islands barebow archer, Robson Talu in training at the SINIS training grounds.
In his early twenties, the young lad joined the Solomon Islands Archery Federation in 2022 and has been vigorous in his high-performance training program over the past months at the Solomon Islands Institute of Sports Complex in Honiara.
“I am happy to join the sport of archery. Since I had the opportunity to represent the country in the 2023 World Archery Oceania Championships in Australia and managed to compete with top archers in the region and also secure a bronze medal in the 50 meters (target mark) in the men’s Barebow category.
“It’s quite interesting to compete with professional archers who have competed in national and international competitions like the Olympics,” he said.
Competing in the recent ‘2023 World Archery Oceania Championships’ included Archery Australia, Archery New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG) Archery Association, World Archery Fiji, Archery Solomon Islands, and Archery New Caledonia.
Talo added that his focus area of strength training is particularly on barebow archery exercises for precision and accuracy with recurve bow and arrows.
“Most of my weekly scheduled target archery training is done on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at the SINIS training grounds.
“Now I am also working hard to stay to stay calm, disciplined, and focused in my target practice drills,” the young gold medal hopeful said.
Meanwhile, Talo now eyes the upcoming 2023 archery championships in Gold Coast, Australia, which he hopes to perform at his best leading into the Pacific Games in November this year.
