March 17th 2017
Fencing Tournament at Moulsford
On 12th March, Moulsford hosted a Leon Paul Junior Series Sabre event. This is a nationwide event that attracts the very best fencers around. The school entered seven competitors in three age ranges: U9’s –Joe K and Patrick (Patch) M; U11’s - Ed L, Oscar N and Sebastian P; U13’s -Ben A and Lachlan A.
In what was a very tough event for the U9’s, Patch and Joe did really well for their first competition after only one and a half terms of fencing. They both recorded victories and scored well in most of their losses. They both learned a lot from the event and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Joe finished in 5th Place and Patch in 7th.
The U11’s was also a very competitive event with a few national fencers attending. Sebastian and Oscar started very well, both winning roughly half of their pool fights and making it through to the second round of Eliminations. Ed’s start was a little shaky, but he managed to find a bit of form for his first elimination round and came back from a big deficit to record a good win. All three boys were knocked out by some good fencers who had vastly more experience and fencing time than they do, but all three gave some very impressive performances. Ed finished in 15th place, Oscar in 12th and Sebastian in 9th. These are fantastic results considering the competition they were up against.
The U13’s was by far the hardest of the age groups, with many national and international fencers in attendance. Both Ben and Lachlan started very well, recording numerous victories against some very good sabreurs. Both mixed their tactics very well which was great to see. Ben’s counter attacking style had many of the top fencers in trouble and Lachlan managed to score what was arguably the hit of the event with a fantastic stop cut to his opponents wrist. The trick is to try and do five of those in a fight.
Overall I was really impressed with how well everybody fenced and adapted to the situation. Against such strong fields across the age ranges they all performed bravely and intelligently. I would also like to add a good luck to Ben, Lachlan and Oscar who are competing at the Southern Age Group Qualifiers this weekend. They will be fighting for a spot in the National Championships.
James Roberts, Fencing Coach
