Archer Robin Selley had to go through a one-shot tie-break to secure a bronze medal at the Junior Pan American Games qualifier in Argentina.

Selley, 16, was tied 5-5 with Sara Garcia Palacios, from Guatemala, in the bronze medal-match before both girls shot a seven in their one-arrow play-off, but Selley was given the nod as her arrow was closest to the centre.

The young archer had been battling sickness for a number of days and admitted to feeling the nerves as she prepared to take her final shot.

“I was terrified,” she said. “We had tied every single end and then we got to 5-5 and it was just down to one arrow. I went second and we were both left wondering who was closest and I was lucky that it was me.

“I can’t believe I won the bronze-medal match by a fraction of an inch and it’s been a huge rollercoaster as s I got sick before we came here, so I’ve been on multiple Argentinian cold meds, well that we think are for colds.”

Selley had already secured her spot at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay in June before shooting for the bronze medal but she surpassed all her expectations.

“I was definitely hoping to pick up a Pan Am spot but I was not expecting to place or even come close,” Selley said.

“That was definitely a surprise and I’m very excited to go to Paraguay. I’m going to get back into the swing of things training and hope it goes well.”

Selley was not the only Bermudian archer in action in Argentina, with Elektra Smith, 19, outperforming her own pre-tournament expectations by making it through to the elimination stages and beating a Cuban archer in the round of 16.

“I didn’t expect to win and I didn’t necessarily think I would even qualify for the elimination rounds,” Smith said.

“I didn't shoot as well I thought I would and against Cuba I thought I’d lost but things turned out for the better. I didn’t have super-high hopes here but I ended up winning some games.”

This was Smith’s first time representing Bermuda internationally and she now has the taste for more.

“It’s probably only been a couple of years since I’ve been getting serious about shooting and I had a lot of nerves because I haven’t been shooting as long as everybody else has,” she said.

“I didn’t feel prepared for this shoot and I wasn’t sure how I was going to do but I would now love to compete internationally again.”

Ross Roberts, national archery coach, was delighted with the performance of both his young athletes.

“I am extremely proud of them,” Roberts said.

“We have had a good shoot and a good finish to the competition. It all started before we left, switching over from indoor season to starting outdoor training and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to our outdoor competitions.

“The programme is working well. We had a good indoor season with a couple of podiums in international events and we are looking forward to having some more outdoors this season.”

Selley’s qualification means Bermuda has two archers travelling to Asuncion this summer for the Junior Pan American Games as Roberts’s son, Jaydon, qualified for the event last year.

“We have two archers now going and they will be shooting their individual matches and also shoot a mixed-team event, so this gives us an extra competition now Robin has qualified,” Roberts said.