Club fencers took part in the Southern Region Senior Championships held in Maidenhead last last weekend where Katie Baker and Dawn Townsend came away with medals.

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Katie who is just 15 years old took part in her first Epeè event. After an uncertain start in her poule, Katie met the number three seed in the quarter final direct elimination match. Having modified her tactics to better suit epee fencing Katie comfortably disposed of her opponent to reach the semi-final. At this stage Katie’s more experienced opponent proved too strong and her winning streak came to an end after securing a well deserved bronze medal.

 

Bradley Hickman was our only representative in the Men’s Epeè and was eliminated in his first DE fight. The men’s epee was by far the strongest event in the championship and consequently Bradley was up against some very tough opponents.

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Katie, Dawn and Abbeylee Anderson took part in the Ladies Foil. There were mixed fortunes for our fencers in the poule which had a major impact on seeding for the direct elimination stage. This was only Abbeylee’s second competition and her lack of competition experience was exposed. It was unfortunate that Abbeylee and Katie were drawn against each other in their first DE fight which proved to be a very close match with Katie narrowly securing victory and a place in the semi finals. Meanwhile, Dawn used her wealth of experience to overcome her opponent and comfortably secure her place in the semi finals. Sadly, both Katie and Dawn were over powered by their opponents and had to settle for a bronze medal – Katie’s second of the championships.

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Tom Bestow and Chris Bishop took part in the Men’s Foil. Both felt they could have fenced better in their poule and were disappointed with their performance which resulted in a low seeding for the DE stage. Tom’s DE opponent proved far too strong securing a comfortable win to progress to the next round. Meanwhile, Chris improved his game and secured a well earned victory in his DE fight which put him into the quarter finals and a fight against the number two seed. Once again Chris raised his game and raced to an early lead which he maintained throughout the fight until they reached 14 -14. Sadly, the last hit went against Chris but all credit to him for an outstanding performance against a much more experienced opponent.

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Well done to all our fencers who were a credit to the club in every respect.

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