Posted: Monday, December 12, 2011 2:20 pm

Planters Garden Centre is proud to announce that Matthew Ingram is now the Junior Indoor National Champion for under 16s Compound Archery.

Matthew who is sponsored by Planters, took up archery on his 14th birthday (18 months ago) and only started competing this year. The competition at the weekend drew archers from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland was held at the Telford International Centre.

The competition comprised shooting 60 arrows at a distance of 18 metres - with the target face being only 60cm wide. In the summer he was 2nd in the Junior National Outdoor Championships held at Lilleshall. Matthew is ranked 7th in the country for Junior Boys (under 18) but ranked 1st for under 16.These results mean he stands a very good chance of representing Great Britain at the European Championships to be held in Denmark in July 2012.

He is currently practising three nights a week and has to juggle that with studying for his GCSEs at Kingsbury School in North Warwickshire.

Matthew is also a member of a team of Young Games Makers helping at next years Olympic Games. He will spend 8 days in London assisting with the Archery Event held at Lords Cricket ground.

Matthew is a member of Meriden Archery Club, who have been very supportive and encouraging, combined with Planters’ continued investment and support which has been a great factor in his success.