HALESOWEN archer Chris White says despite his quarter-finals defeat at this year’s National Tour Finals, he’s heading into the European Championships in Slovenia full of confidence.

White went down a close-fought 139-138 to eventual runner-up Adam Ravenscoft at the event at Caldicot Castle but set his alarm for 3 o’clock in the morning the day after the match to get on a plane to Slovenia for this year’s field archery European competition.

The Halesowen-born shooter boasts both pedigree and experience in the sport, winning European Championships bronze in Riom in 1999 and continuing to fly the flag for his country at 40 years old.

And with one of the landmark competitions looming, he believes he’s heading into the tournament in Mokrice in the best shape possible.

“Honestly, it’s the happiest I’ve been for a long time,” he said.

“The last couple of years in the national series I’ve got a bit heebie-jeebies on my trigger, but today I just shot all 15 arrows with no issues at all.

“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t screwing up for Slovenia to be honest!

“Obviously it’s disappointing to lose but I’m really happy with how the shots were.

“I haven’t focussed too much on target archery this year - I just got a phone call saying I can qualify for the Tour Finals if I do well at the last two tour events, and I did well at both.

"I was contemplating turning this down, but I thought it would be good practice and if I can shoot my trigger now without any issues then going into the Europeans, I should be fine.”

The Tour Finals did not represent White’s favoured discipline, as he competed in the 50m compound event rather than his preferred field format.

But the upcoming European Championships will provide him with the perfect opportunity to showcase his field prestige, seeking to add to the World Championships he won in the event in 2002 and 2004.

And while he is naturally heading into the competition with confidence, he is not getting carried away by his promising form of late.

“I can go to Slovenia with confidence, but for the future I don’t actually think past Christmas,” he added.

“There’s obviously the national indoor stuff at the end of the season, then I’ll take a month off.

“I’ve then got Kings of Archery in Eindhoven and the Vegas Shoot in February, but past that I can’t say I’ve thought much about the future to be honest.”

Leading digital bank Starling are a new sponsor of Archery GB. For more information visit archerygb.org/ntfinal