Bermuda archers Jaydon Roberts and Braeden Fraser secured top honours in their respective divisions at the Caribbean Development Championships and the inaugural Caribbean Archery Championships in Providence, Guyana.

Roberts clinched the senior men’s recurve with a 6-2 victory over Luciano Erazo, of Puerto Rico, in the final. The 21-year-old partnered with Erazo in a combined team bracket, where they topped the charts.

Roberts also brought home gold from the Caribbean Premier League, which concluded in September, with the medals awarded in Guyana. He set a Bermuda record in that competition with 1,325 of a possible 1,440 points.

“I felt I performed really well in the event,” Roberts told The Royal Gazette.

“While I had no control over the weather conditions, I trusted my shooting process and avoided dehydration and fatigue.

“In the qualifying round it was a bit difficult to read the wind, but as I continued to shoot I started to improve and shot higher scores.

“I finished in first place and need to prepare for the eliminations the next day. During the eliminations the wind and heat remained a factor to my performance, however, I remained confident in my ability to shoot.

“My match wins were 6-0, 7-1, 6-2 and 6-2, which placed me on the podium in first place. It was a great opportunity to shoot in Guyana and to represent Bermuda against the larger Caribbean countries.”

Fraser was crowned champion in the recurve development category, finishing ahead of local competitor Jeremiah Archer.

The 14-year-old added silver in the men’s doubles when paired with Daniel Cox, of Guyana, while he also secured second in the mixed doubles, alongside Afeefah Ghany from Trinidad and Tobago.

“I am pleased with the way I performed and know that the more I compete, my performance will improve,” the Somersfield Academy student said.

“I did lots of training to get ready for this event. I prepared for this event by training hard two to three times every week, starting during September and doing practice shoots to simulate the real thing.

“I found it hard to do any simulation as the weather conditions were very hot and humid in Guyana. It was like this all day even during the night.

“While I was competing it felt like the heat would suck the energy out of me. To counter this, I would wait in the shed near where I was shooting when it was not my turn and drink lots of water.”

Held at the Guyana National Stadium, the championships brought together more than 200 archers from 14 nations, including first-time participants Suriname, Panama and Honduras.

Trina Roberts, who served as Bermuda coach and team manager, was pleased with what the duo achieved.

“Bermuda’s double gold performance is significant for a small island nation competing against the larger Caribbean countries,” she said.

“The championship attracted 202 archers from 14 countries. The regional competition was an opportunity for Bermuda’s athletes to demonstrate their capabilities.

“Both archers got gold in their respective divisions. They remained focused and trusted their shooting process in the high temperatures and wind gusts.

“We are pleased with their results and have positioned Bermuda as the country to continue to watch.”