Official Meetings of the International Judges in 2023
In 2023, the International Judges of the World Federation of Equestrian Archery (hereinafter: WFEA) were able to meet officially three times in Hungary, in the Kassai Valley, during formal meetings.
– April 1, 2023 (Central entrance and Beginner exams of the Kassai School)
– July 1, 2023 (Equestrian Archery World Championship and Meeting of International Judges)
– October 7, 2023 (Central entrance and Beginner exams of the Kassai School)
Representatives of the International Instructors of the Original Kassai System and the Council of Elders joined the discussions.
In the year 2023, the following persons belong to the body of International Judges:
Kassai Lajos (President of WFEA, Hungary),
Daniel Griffin (Member of the Board of Directors, South Africa),
Tom Kelner (Member of the Board of Directors, USA),
Sereghy Zoltán (Slovakia),
Brázik Csaba (Hungary),
Bodnár István (Hungary),
Szmrecsányi Márton (Hungary),
Nagy Bálint (Hungary),
Smuta Gergő (Hungary),
Faragó Csaba (Hungary),
Piroska Péter (Hungary),
Johannes Fischnaller (Austria),
Borsos Róbert (Canada),
Robin Descamps (France),
Christoph Neugebauer (Germany),
Katie Stearns (USA),
Bettina Pratt (Luxemburg),
Lance Bishop (Canada),
Qu Guibin (China),
Rónai Attila (Hungary),
Andrey Bogdanov (Russia),
Budai István (Hungary),
Lőrincz Rómeó (Romania),
Florent Fetiveau (France),
Jaco Jacobs (South Africa),
Szabó András (Hungary),
Trinity Massie (USA),
Douglas Elwood Goodwin (Canada),
Ali Ghoorchian (Iran),
Fuad Al-mudahka (Qatar),
Dimitrios Christou (UK),
Dr. Szántó Zoltán (Hungary),
Abdullah M. I Altalib (Saudi Arabia),
Luraina Undershute Oddy (Canada),
Hani Al-Fassam (Kuwait),
Akmal Dahalan (Malaysia).
Statistical data of the Original Kassai System equestrian archery in 2023:
This year, 88 Original Kassai System (hereinafter: OKS) official competitions were organized around the world, in which 397 athletes competed more than 1,000 times.
In 2023, the International Judges conducted 126 OKS grade exams in the world, of which;
There were 11 unsuccessful and 115 successful exam results.
Congratulations to all examinees and to all International Judges whom prepared their students for the task.
Further information about Grade exams on the WFEA website: here ->
The top 9 of the 2023 world rankings:
- Molnár Dávid (Hungary) – 306.20 points (which result is also a new world record)
- Siem Budding (Netherlands) – 264.31 points
- Rácz Gergő (Hungary) – 257.03 points
- Csiszér Ivett (Romania) – 253.47 points
- Piroska Péter (Hungary) – 246.88 points
- Konkoly Merse (Hungary) – 240.12 points
- Daniel Griffin (South Africa) – 237.87 points
- Piroska Péter (Hungary) – 228.35 points
- Fedor Áron (Hungary) – 227.55 points
Main events in 2023:
International Judge initiations and training camps
In 2023, Kassai Lajos inaugurated four International Judges, so the number of International Judges increased to thirty six people worldwide and they now represent eighteen countries.
Each track inauguration was preceded by a successful training camp held by the founding Master, thanks to which hundreds of equestrian archers were able to study under the leadership of Master Equestrian Archer Kassai Lajos.
International Judges inaugurated in 2023:
- in March 2023, Abdullah I Altalib (Saudi Arabia),
- in July 2023 Luraina Undershute Oddy (Canada),
- in November 2023, Hani Al-Fassam (Kuwait) and also
- in November 2023, Akmal Dahalan (Malaysia) could join the WFEA Judges’ family.
Abdullah M. I Altalib’s second equestrian archery track was inaugurated in December.
The course was inaugurated by International Judges Fuad Almudehki (Qatar), Ali Ghoorchian (Iran) and Hani Al-Fassam (Kuwait).
Equestrian Archery World Championship and Meeting of International Judges
Between June 29 and July 1, the Equestrian Archery World Championship and Meeting of International Judges took place in the Kassai Valley. At the 2023 Equestrian Archery World Championship, 16 countries were represented with a total of 55 competitors.
Competitors could compete in 4 categories; Junior, Women, Men and Senior.
The winners of the Equestrian Archery World Championship by categories:
Junior category winners:
- place: Szmrecsányi Benedek, 205.53 points / Hungary
- place: Szmrecsányi Fülöp, 200.18 points / Hungary
- place: Rácz Gergő, 178.22 points / Hungary
Women’s category winners:
- place: Csiszér Ivett, 207.53 points / Romania
- place: Nagy Veronika, 167.33 points / Hungary
- place: Vajda Villő, 167.28 points / Hungary
Men’s category winners:
- place: Molnár Dávid, 264.50 points / Hungary
- place: Jr. Piroska Péter: 240.31 points / Hungary
- place: Konkoly Merse, 240.12 points / Hungary
Senior category winners:
- place: Piroska Péter, 200.70 points / Hungary
- place: Thierry Descamps, 157.16 points / France
- place: Tom Kelner, 137.71 points / USA
In 2023, 5 records were broken within the framework of the Kassai system and the World Federation
– The WFEA World Ranking is led by Molnár Dávid (Hungary) with the best result of all time (306.20 points, with a horse named Horka), which he managed to achieve this year, with this result he also leads the Kassai style category of all time.
– The second-place competitor of the 2023 World Ranking, Siem Budding (Netherlands) , set a record in the Quiver load category with his result (264.31 points, with a horse named James), and leads the all time Quiver load category World Ranking with his result.
– The third-place competitor of the 2023 World Ranking, Rácz Gergő (Hungary), set a record in the Junior category with his result (257.03 points, with his horse Tordas), and leads the all time U18 World Ranking with his result.
– The fourth-place competitor of the 2023 World Ranking, Csiszér Ivett (Romania), set a record in the Women category with her result (253.47 points, with her horse Zafír), and leads the all time Women World Ranking with her result.
– This year, the world’s youngest, now Master grade student passed a successful Master grade exam; Szmrecsányi Benedek (Hungary, 14 years old). His results were; 232.77 points with unlimited arrows and 149.71 points with three arrows. He managed to achieve both scores with his horse named Zselyke.
Original Kassai System equestrian archery training camps led by International Instructors in 2023
Molnár Dávid International Instructor leaded a training camp in Romania, at Csíkszereda. It was his second time teaching for the students of Lőrincz Rómeó International Judge. There were 22 equestrian archers participating in the training camp which lasted for three days and ended with a competition.
Konkoly Merse International Instructor leaded 2 training camps on the North American continent. His reports about each training camp are available in English on the WFEA Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/wfeaworldfederationofequestrianarchery
Locations:
Arlington, WA, USA – International Judge: Katie Stearns
Edgewater, BC, Canada – International Judge: Douglas Goodwin
More information about the 2024 WFEA competitions is available here->
Those interested can find out about the programs planned in the Kassai Valley, current events and Open Days on the official Facebook page of the Kassai Equestrian Archery.