Friday January 16, during the Indoor World Series, the people of Nîmes experienced varying fortunes.
For Baptiste Addis, the traditional day at the office during a qualifying round quickly turned into a nightmare on Friday afternoon in Nîmes. The Paris 2024 silver medalist (team event, with Jean-Charles Valladont) “completely missed his first end,” lamented the sports director of the Arc Club de Nîmes, Olivier Grillat.
A flight of three arrows with a tiny 19 at the end, the maximum being 30, and “a straw (0)” during the last arrow, undoubtedly put an end to Addis’ hopes of seeing Saturday afternoon.
Grillat, about Addis: ”For me, he has a 1% chance of qualifying”
Because there are still two qualifying series left, this Saturday morning, and far too many archers who can overtake Nîmes. Who went to bed with, under his pillow, a very fragile 28th place in the rankings.
”For me, he has a 1% chance of qualifying”predicted Grillat, knowing that only the top 32 qualifies for the 16th. Baptiste Addis will therefore have been the one who got through D-Day, at home, ”as is always the case here, every year, for an ACN licensee”recalled the sports director on Wednesday.
But, in Nîmes, one Nîmes international being able to hide another, Jean-Charles Valladont and Victoria Sebastian have rather mastered their qualifications.
Sebastian won in Taipei in December
A score of around 580 points seems to be enough to see what happens next Saturday afternoon, the 590 achieved by Valladont, currently 4th, and the 587 by Sebastian, 3rd before Saturday morning, should allow them to continue the adventure.
And for Sebastian, why not kiss after his victory in Taipei (Taiwan), at the beginning of December 2025. At 21, if the Insep resident represents the future, she already embodies the present. In Nîmes, Jean-Manuel Tizzoni, coach of the French women’s team, observed it carefully: ”Victoria is maturing well. It may be a little more difficult for her here because she is expected (3rd in 2025)but it’s also very educational.”
