American Brady Ellison got his pursuit of another major honour off to a solid start as he topped the men’s recurve standings ©Getty Images

American Brady Ellison got his pursuit of another major honour off to a solid start as he topped the men’s recurve standings after the first day of qualification at the World Archery Field Championships in Bray in Ireland.

Ellison, winner of a fourth Archery World Cup final gold medal in Odense in Denmark earlier this week, scored 383 points to finish at the summit of the leaderboard in the only discipline to be held at the event which features on the Olympic programme.

Massimiliano Mandia of Italy, a bronze medallist at the 2014 edition of the competition, was second on 373 points.

Britain’s Jon Shales occupies third place on 371 points, narrowly ahead of Frenchman Jerome Bidault.

Shales’ team-mate Amy Oliver’s total of 354 points was enough for first position in the women’s recurve qualifying, with Zoe Goebbels of Britain one adrift in second.

Italian Jessica Tomasi is also in the top three as she is a further two behind the Belgian on 351 points.

There was further American success on day one of the tournament at the Killruddery House and Gardens in Bray, just south of Dublin, as Dave Cousins was the top performer in the men’s compound category as he recorded 419 points.

Dutchman Sander Dolderman is keeping close company on 418, while Cousins’ compatriot Steve Anderson and both have 415 in third and fourth respectively.

The event is being held at the Killruddery House and Gardens in Bray ©World Archery
The event is being held at the Killruddery House and Gardens in Bray ©World Archery

The dominance from the United States continued as Jamie van Natta leads the way in the women’s compound having managed to score 401 points on the opening day of qualification.

Ivana Buden of Croatia is second on 400, with a gap of 11 points to the nearest challenger for a place in the top two – Sarah Prieels of Belgium.

Field archery, part of the World Games programme, includes up and down shooting and cross-slopes, with unmarked distance targets and challenges of light, dark and shadow also needing to be negotiated. 

To be successful, archers need to acquire skills known as "fieldcraft".

Archers usually shoot at black and yellow coloured target faces, set at distances of up to 60 metres.

The targets have six concentric rings, four black and two gold.

The inner gold ring scores six points, outer gold ring five points and black rings four to one point.

Qualification continues tomorrow before finals are due to be held on Saturday (October 1) and Sunday (October 2).