James Woodgate is taking World Cup lessons into tilt at Tokyo glory

And the Shropshire sharp shooter revealed the secret key to his searing Japanese journey – an innovative new partnership between Wall’s Pastry and SportsAid.

Precocious Lilleshall-based Woodgate, who recently turned 19, will descend on the Games as part of a six-strong archery squad alongside men’s stars Patrick Huston and Tom Hall.

He recently competed at the third World Cup stage in Paris where he slipped to a 6-4 second-round defeat against experienced Indian Tarundeep Rai, 37.

Woodgate admits he felt the pressure after navigating his way through the qualifiers but hopes lessons learned from the unforgiving head-to-head format can propel him even further in Japan.

“Paris was a bit of a rollercoaster,” said Woodgate, who hails from Surrey and is one of 25 athletes supported by the innovative new investment between Wall’s Pastry and SportsAid. “In the qualification I shot really well but in the head-to-heads, I didn’t come up to that standard unfortunately. I’ve made a couple of changes since and hopefully it will mean I’m coming out stronger going into Tokyo.

“I don’t know what went wrong. Qualification is more relaxed and I’m much more used to it – but it’s only my second World Cup event ever.

“I struggled to find my rhythm after my first head-to-head and struggled to find the middle. It’s so few arrows – in qualification you can come back up and find the middle again but the head-to-head is such a short space of time.

“I didn’t really have a shot that would put me in a solid opposition to win the gold – finding the middle was more difficult but I’ve come back out and now hopefully I can work something out.

“I’ve definitely given myself a little bit of positive self-talk to get confidence levels back up. I’m definitely confident I’ll be able to perform in Tokyo. We’re going to find the extra few points that we were missing and find the shot that we really want to use in Tokyo.”

Woodgate’s journey to Japan has been powered by a partnership between SportsAid and Wall’s Pastry, with an on-pack Wall’s promotion giving consumers a chance to win a handful of money-can’t-buy experiences.

The on-pack promotion launched earlier this month and involves 50p from every pack sold going towards supporting the next generation of SportsAid stars.

Woodgate has been candid about the fact he would have never qualified for Tokyo had the Games taken place as scheduled last summer.

The one-year postponement revolutionised his ambitions and Woodgate, who trains with GB Archery at their Shropshire base, admits the support of Wall’s and SportsAid has helped fuel his Olympic rise. “It’s really great to get that funding,” added Woodgate, who is following in the same SportsAid footsteps as Jessica Ennis-Hill and Dina Asher-Smith.

“Things like arrows are eventually perishable and get worn out, so I’ve really been using that money to help me get the right equipment in place.

“It’s been really fantastic to have that support coming from SportsAid and Wall’s.

“I never thought I’d be going [to the Olympics] at such a young age. This past year has been a wild ride – I feel really proud and it’s really special.”

n Wall’s Pastry is proud to be championing the next generation of UK athletes. For more information about Wall’s Pastry or the on-pack promotion, please visit www.walls-pastry.co.uk/