Huntingdonshire Fencing Club

A number of club members travelled to Nottingham over the weekend to take part in the Veterans Age Group Championships.

Saturday was foil and sabre day.

Men`s foil, Cat 2 – 8th Keith McWilliams

Men`s foil, Cat 3 – 21st Ian Coates

Women`s foil, Cat 2 – 3rd with a bronze medal, Tracey Coates

Men`s sabre, Cat 3 – 13th Ian Coates

Sunday was Epee day.

Men`s epee, Cat 2 – 3rd with a bronze medal Eric Lauga

Ditto        ditto           20th John Prime

Men`s epee, Cat 3 – 20th Mike Robinson

Women`s epee, Cat 3 – 11th Carol Ashman

Well done all, especially those picking up a medal.

Emma Lindsey, one of a newer members who came off our September beginners course entered the RAF Novice Cup held at RAF Cosford. The competition was held over 3 days, 5th-8th March. Each day a different weapon with coaching in the morning and the competition in the afternoon.

I am extremely pleased to tell you that Emma won GOLD in all 3 weapons which meant Emma won the overall Ladies Novice cup.

What a fantastic result, VERY WELL DONE EMMA.

Emma has not been fencing very long; she did a 3 day taster course with the RAF and then joined our beginner’s course last Sept.

Fencing epee and sabre, the mornings coaching on the day of the competition was the first time with those weapons.

This past weekend saw the ER senior championships take place in Stevenage Sports centre.

There was a reasonable turnout with over 70 fencers on the day with a good number of HFC members attending.

The standard ranged from very good to beginners but all had fun.

Results.

Women`s foil

Gold 1st place Livie, excellent result Live, very well done.

Men`s foil

Bronze joint 3rd Riccardo, good result Ricky, well done

6th Nathan Doherty

9th Ben Shepherd

10th Josh Coates

13th Jacques Portal

20th Mike Tucknott

Women`s epee

Bronze joint 3rd Carol Ashman, well done Carol

Women`s sabre

5th Carol Ashman, where do you get the energy from Carol, two in one day

Men`s epee

14th Ben Shepherd, another with energy doing two events in one day and with a bad shoulder he told me.

19th Paul Grist

21st Mike Robinson

Well done all and thank you for supporting ER competitions

On Sunday, the County held a junior age group team competition at Stephen Perse school Cambridge.

There were 3 competitions in one event.

U17, U14 and U12 teams.

There were many clubs and schools represented across the age groups.

Perse Prep school

Stephen Perse Foundation

Dragon Fencing club

Cambridge Sword

Hitchin Fencing club

St Mary`s school

Sanction Wood school

Huntingdonshire Fencing club

The hall was packed out with fencers and parents. Many of the fencers this was their first competition, so the event was held with an educational theme.

It was a bit of a crazy day with so many bouts taking place at once with fencers a lot smaller than me, to some I had to look up to talk to them, doesn’t take much though!

We had 5 volunteers from HFC refereeing plus 2 who are both HFC & Dragon members and Ben who was representing Hitchin.

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Without these volunteers refereeing the event could not have happened, so thanks to all the refs.

Cambridge Sword organised a cake and drinks stand so there was plenty of refreshments on offer throughout the day.

Fencing started just after 9am and the last match finished around 2.40pm. Had to clear the hall by 3pm.

I am very please to tell you that the Hunts U12 team took first place, GOLD MEDALS.

A very big well done to Harry, Joel and Oliver, great stuff guys.

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Mike

On 26 January Mike ‘Rob’ Robinson attended The London Winter Intermediates, fencing men’s senior epee. Thirty competitors took part. This is a regular annual intermediate competition, however, a few international fencers attended not quite realising it wasn’t a normal senior British open; one ‘A’ rated fencer slipped in under the radar as well, so this made the competition more challenging than previously (more on that later).

Rob had a decent double poule round winning 6 and losing 3 with a +7 indicator, placing him at 9th seed. He had the bad luck of fencing four of the five ‘A’ and decent international fencers in the poules, so this probably was lower than it should have been.

Ninth seed was enough to receive a bye for the L32 DE. The L16 bout against the 8th seed looked difficult based on the poule results, but Rob found his rhythm, winning easily 15-6, to secure a place in the L8. The next round meant he was up against the 1st seed, a talented young Swiss fencer named Arthur Giboin, who astonishingly finished the poules with 9 wins, 0 losses and a +33 indicator! Fortunately, Rob had fenced him in the 2nd poule round (only losing 5-4) and learned from the experience.

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Staying strong defensively, keeping the correct distance and counter-attacking on attacks that fell marginally short meant the score stayed even until the end of play. Ending at 12-12 after 9 minutes resulted in a priority fight. Rob received priority, which took some of the pressure off. In the last few seconds, the Swiss fencer attempted one of his long, lunging foot hits (one of his two really good signature moves), Rob dropped his foot back a couple of inches and counter-attacked with a fleche to the shoulder, breaking his blade in the process, but winning the bout!

The L4 bout against Vladyslav Verteletskyi proved too much, especially after the exhausting L8 match and having fenced very competitively at the Warwick Open the previous day. Rob pushed a bit, landed 5 or 6 decent hand hits, but couldn’t pin the tall eastern European down or convince him to engage (Vladyslav’s coach having watched Rob’s L8 match against Giboin might have had something to do with that!).

Robbo ended up with a bronze medal and, again, bragging rights to say that at 60, he was roughly the same age of all three other medallists combined. The medal supplier failed to ship in time, so the top 4 received certificates, a free 25kg dumbbell (the podium ceremony took place in a gym), and the promise of medals in the post.

Our club members have been very busy over the last few weekends at various competitions.

Below are their results.

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Saturday 18th Jan Leon Paul men`s epee open

15th Eric Lauga

41st Mike Robinson

Saturday 26th Jan, Warwick Open, men`s epee

14th Mike Robinson

Also on Saturday 26th Jan

Eastern Region Youth Championships and BYC qualifier in Stevenage.

Under 18 men`s foil

3rd , taking a bronze medal - Riccardo

Under 18 women`s foil

3rd, taking a bronze medal – Livie 

Under 16 women`s foil

3rd , taking a bronze medal – Thea 

Under 12 men`s foil

6th , Corrin 

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Congratulations to all those who won medals!

1st Riccardo

2nd Ben

Joint 3rd Dan & Euan.

I refereed a number of the bouts and there were some very exciting fights.

Euan and Andy was one, where Andy, not a sabrer put up a great fight against Euan losing out 15-12.

The final was great with two foilists fighting it out at sabre.

It was very fast and furious.

It went neck and neck up to about ten all when Ben made a few errors with the front foot, much to his annoyance. Riccardo took advantage of this & kept his head going on to win 15-10.

I felt all fenced well as many had little experience of sabre with the difference in timing & rules from foil.

Master of Arms was won by Riccardo as he took 5th in epee, 5th in foil and 1st in sabre

Best U16 foilist - Joseph 

You can find all the details on- HFC Champs entry list - Google Sheets

A big thank you to Matt Rowland for organising the whole 3 evenings of competition, Thanks Matt.

Mike

The previous week we could not hold the final as we ran out of time.

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The final was between Ben Shepherd and Jonathan Glancy

Unfortunately, Jonathan had injured his back and under doctors’ orders not to fence for a week or two so could not compete in the final.

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So, our foil champion is Ben with a walkover in the final.

Second Jonathan

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Joint third Tracey and Richard.

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Top under 16 was Joseph Lewis who wins himself a box of choc`s which I have to give to him. Well done Joseph.

Full result below.

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1. Ben

2. John

3. Richard

3. Tracey

5. Riccardo

6. Steven

7. Josh

8. Keith

9. Jacques

10. Max

11. Thurlough

12. Tim

13. Joseph

14. Alfie

15. Miles

16. Thea

17. Robbo

18. Maja

19. Harry

20. Paul

21. Dan

22. Elliot

23. Jack

24. Corin

25. Joel

Epee Results are as follows:

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1. George

2. Andy L

3. Matt

3. Tim

5. Riccardo

6. Lachlan

7. Keith

8. Andy SD

9. Robbo

10. Paul

11. Richard

12. Josh

13. Jack

13. Joseph

15. Emma

15. Carol

In September Mike ‘Rob’ Robinson attended The Rugby Cup (senior epee) in Rugby. This was one of BFA’s new intermediate competitions aimed at allowing more mid-level fencers to participate in national events. Twenty-five competitors took part. After struggling in the poule round he ended up 18th seed. The Last 32 DE was against the 15th seed, a solid fencer from Southampton (James Abrams), whom he beat 15-10. The Last 16 DE bout was to prove more difficult against the 2nd seed out of the poules, a talented young fencer (Edward Pickering) from Touche Fencing Club, however, patience and a strong defensive posture meant Robbo prevailed 15-13. The Last 8 DE was against the 7th seed, another talented young fencer from OPS (Alastair Chew), where again, a defensive posture and patience paid off to give him a 15-14 victory. After a long day and having every DE bout go nearly the full 9 minutes, tiredness kicked In. The Last 4 DE proved too much, where he lost to the eventual gold medal winner, Caleb Matthews, of Norfolk Fencing Club. Robbo ended up with a bronze medal and bragging rights to say that at 60, he was the only medallist old enough to drive himself to the competition.

Hi all

Over the weekend of  3rd November, some of our junior club members took part in the Hitchin Fencing Club Tournament.

In the junior section, we have 2 medal winners

1st place to Corin taking the gold medal, great result Corin

3rd place to Harry taking a bronze medal, very well done Harry

A very well done to both Corin and Harry.

Sunday 27th October saw the HFC epee team take to the pistes at Northampton Team Epee Cup. This year's team consisted of John Prime, Alex Zaretsky and Matt Rowland and there were 16 teams in attendance on the day from across the UK. HFC produced a strong start in the poules, finishing as joint top seeds in the tournament having taken 3/3 victories.

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The direct elimination rounds were taken just as decisively as the poule, with HFC carving their way through the L16 (45-11), the quarter final (45-18) before seeing off a challenge from some welsh neighbours in the semi final with HFC victorious at 45-32.

The final against 'The Sinister Southpaws' was a fascinating tie. The Southpaws made a strong start taking the first 3 bouts to 5-2, then 10-5, to 14-8. A 6 point advantage. This was the first moment HFC had found themselves behind and a comeback was needed quickly or else the match was certain to slip away. Alex produced the necessary momentum taking the next bout 6-5, reducing the deficit by one and HFC took the opportunity to level in the 4 relay with Matt scoring 10-5 against Tim Devenport to even the scoreline at 24-24. John put in a great effort to take the lead against Lionel De Swarte-Danko only for Lionel to take it back again giving the Southpaws a 1 hit lead. Relay 7 saw the Southpaws move away by a further point, only for John to return to the piste and level the scores again to 38-38, an even footing for the final match. Unfortunately the moment proved too big and Lionel beat Matt 7-3 giving the Southpaws the victory at 45-41 and HFC take home the silver medal.

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​Well done to all team members for putting on a fantastically tenacious display of fencing and proving it really isn't over until it's over. The silver medal was well earned!

Over the last week or so (11th to 17th Oct) there was the VETs World Fencing Championships held in Dubai.

We had 3 of our members who had qualified via UK competitions.

Tracey Coates in Women`s foil (50-59)

Carol Ashman in Women`s sabre (60-69)

Eric Lauga in Men`s epee (59-59)

Looking at various photos it looked an amazing venue.

Tracey came 31st in her event, Carol 22nd in hers.

Eric had a very good championship coming in a great 6th place and only missing out on a medal by one hit losing 8v7 in extra time.

Eric then joined the men`s epee team who came in a great third to take a bronze medal.

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Some of our longer serving HFC members will also recognise Andew Brown who also was part of the men`s epee team.

Andrew was a member of HFC for many years until he moved to Scotland.

Well done Eric

Saturday was Men`s epee.

1st Sam Luckman taking GOLD, well done Sam.  15 - 12

3rd Max Titmuss taking BRONZE, good one Max

7th John Prime

11th  Andy Luckman

17th  Peter Walker

Sunday was foil and sabre.

Men`s Foil

1st Jacques Portal taking GOLD, great win Jacques. A very hard fought final. 15-11

8th Ian Coates

Women`s Foil

2nd Tracey Coates taking SILVER, well done Tracey,

Men`s Sabre

2nd Nico Ignacio taking SILVER, well done Nico and it was a great final. 15-13.

Women`s Sabre

3rd Carol Ashman taking SILVER, well done Carol.

A good weekend for HFC fencers.

We had one member in men`s sabre, Max Callaghan who came 12th.

Andy Luckman and George Partridge both were in the men`s epee.

Andy 6th and George 7th.

A big thank you to all those who supported the county event.

It was a fun day but exhausting for those entering all 3 weapons. Most were very tired by 4 pm.

Results-

Men`s epee

Mike (Robo) 2nd Silver🥈 , Josh C. 4th , Tim 7th, Nico 8th, Max C. 9th

Women`s epee

Liz B. 3rd  Bronze 🥉

Men`s foil

Monty 3rd Bronze 🥉, Riccardo 4th, Nico 7th, Tim 10th, Dan 11th, Max C. 16th

Women`s foil

Tracey C. 1st Gold 🥇

Livie 2nd   Silver      🥈

Liz B. 3rd Bronze 🥉

Men`s sabre

Nico 3rd Bronze 🥉, Dan 6th, Max C. 7th

Women`s sabre

Liz B. 1st Gold 🥇

Master at Arms

Nico 3rd 🥉

A very well done to everyone but especially to those who took home medals. 🥇🥈🥉

Well done to Dan for organising.

This past weekend saw the British Open Championships being held in Sheffield.

A number of HFC members entered and I am very pleased to say 3 of them bringing home some medals.

Eric Lauga did exceptionally well taking BRONZE in the men`s epee, 3rd place out of an entry of 115 fencers. A really great result in a very strong field..

Very well done Eric

In the GB Cup (British National intermediate Championships) we have two club members with medals.

Riccardo took GOLD in the men`s foil and Livie took SILVER in the women`s foil.

Well done to both Riccardo and Livie, great results.

HFC are very proud of our club members successfully fencing on the National piste, well done to our medal winners.

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GB Cup Medal Winner Photo's

Livie fenced in the Lancaster University Open competition over the past weekend and came in a great 2nd place taking the silver medal.

Well done Livie, great result

HFC fencers Max Titmus, Julian Williams, Sam Luckman and Andy Luckman entered.

As luck would have it, Andy and Sam meet in the last 16, with Andy just winning 15-14, well done DAD.

Andy`s next bout was L8 which he lost 15-10 to Seb Lee a bronze medallist.

Andy was 6th, Max 10th, Sam 12th & Julian 29th.

Well done guys.

A great day for HFC fencers – 2 GOLDS, 2 SILVERS and 1 best cadet in men`s foil.

It was pleasing to see HFC members supporting our region with the following HFC members entering. Well done all.

Nathan Doherty, the Coates family, Tracey, Josh & Ian, Matt Rowlands, Mike (Rob) Robinson, Riccardo, Jacques Portal, Mike Tucknott, Livie, Tim Bissell,

Bonnie Cheung and a very recent joining member, Thea.

Our Best results

Women`s Foil.

The final was between 2 HFC fencers, Tracey and Livie with Tracey winning 15-8.

GOLD to Tracey Coates, excellent Tracey, very well done.

SILVER to Livie, well done Livie.

Thea was 6th, I think in her first senior competition.

Men`s Foil.

1st and taking GOLD, Nathan beating Jack Elseworth15-12, Excellent Nathan, very well done.

Riccardo came 6th and was best cadet in men`s foil. 

Josh 11th, Ian 12th, Jacques 14th & Mike 16th.

Men`s Epee.

Matt took SILVER, coming in 2nd place, losing to Rudi Bruijn-Yard of Cambs Univ. in the final.

Tim 16th and Mike (Rob) 19th.

Women`s epee, Bonnie 7th.

I hope I have not missed anyone.

I would like to say thank you to ER for organising the event, in particular Debbie Porter who did most of the hard work.

Also all of those who helped lay out the piste`s in the morning and clear up at the end.

Plus of course those extremely hard working referees.

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Women's Foil and Men's Epee Medal Winner Photo's

Sunday saw two bronze medals for HFC members. Both Riccardo and Livie came in a good 3rd place in the U17 age group event at the Cambridge Sword Age group competition. 

Well done Riccardo and Livie.

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Medal Photo's

We had some of our club members competing at the British fencing championships in Sheffield over the past weekend with a great result for Riccardo taking a bronze medal in the men`s category D/E/U.

Although this was not the senior event it was still a high-level competition with an entry of 27 of good men`s foilists.

1st Matthew Abrahams

2nd Sadiq Hussain

Joint 3rd Riccardo and Jon Pritchard

Excellent result Riccardo, very well done.

In the men’s senior epee event with all the top guys entered, entry of 70

Club member Max Titmuss came 42nd and Eric Lauga 54th, well done guys in what was a very high standard entry.

A number of HFC members travelled to Nottingham over the past weekend for the veterans age group competitions.

For those who do not know, age group events are split into 4 age group categories and then of course weapon.

Cat 1 – 40-49,  Cat 2 – 50-59,  Cat 3 – 60-69 &  Cat 4 – 70+

The best result of the weekend was Eric Lauga taking GOLD in the men’s epee cat-2.

Very well done Eric. See photo, Eric with his gold medal, amongst other medal winners.

Two other good results were-

Keith McWilliams 3rd men’s foil taking a bronze medal, cat 1. Good result Keith, more lessons, next time gold!

Tracey Coates 4th women’s foil, cat 2

Other members results were-

Andy Luckman 7th men’s epee, cat 3.

Ines Smith 9th women’s foil, cat 2

Tim Bissell 10th Men’s epee, cat 2

Euan Smith 12th men’s sabre cat 2

Jacques Portal 13th men’s foil, cat 3

Ian Coates, gluten for punishment, entered for all 3 weapons in his age group cat 3.

8th in men’s sabre, 17th men’s foil and 20th men’s epee.

Also there and with good results were Jon Nottingham a frequent visitor to our club when he is in the UK.

Jon came 3rd men’s epee, cat 3.

Silvia and Andrew Brown who were long time members of HFC until the moved to Scotland.

Silvia came 2nd taking a silver medal in women’s sabre cat 4

Andrew came 2nd taking silver medal in the men’s epee cat 4

I think the club can be proud of the above HFC members, supporting a good competition but turning in some great results plus of course they all enjoyed a weekend of fencing.

Last weekend Eric Luaga travelled to Scotland to be part of the England side that won the VET`s 4 nations competition.

Eric has also been selected to be part of the GB mens epee team in the European VET`s team Championships in a few weeks’ time.

Richard Sage has also been selected as the men`s team foil non fencing captain in the same event.

Good luck to both our club members.

Max and Nico went to Norwich the weekend last (16th of March) to compete in a friendly 3-weapon competition at UEA.

They fenced all 3 weapons throughout the day and the format was 2 rounds of poules per weapon. Top seeds from the first round are gathered in the top poule for the second round which will make the final rankings for the weapon.

Sabre was first,  where Nico took 1st place and Max ranked 5th.

Foil was second where Nico was ranked 4th and Max ranked 11th.

Epee was last where Nico was ranked 2nd and Max ranked 15th. 

At the end of the competition, Nico won the Master of Arms award for ranking the highest across all 3 weapons. Congratulations Nico, very well done.

It was a great and friendly competition made better by the fencers at UEA and Norfolk Fencing Club members.

Riccardo took part in the Leon Paul Age group event, the men's foil under 17 group.

Riccardo came in 3rd taking a bronze medal.

Well done Riccardo.

Eric Lauga took part in the National Veterans Championships, men`s epee.

Eric came in 3rd, taking a bronze medal in the overall championships but also came 1st in his age group, Cat 2

Well done Eric.

We had an away match last Thursday against Cambridge Fencing club.

This was a full three weapon match: foil, epee and sabre.

The foil match HFC won 45 – 40.

Cambridge won both the sabre and epee.

Sabre 45 – 39 and epee 38 – 37 on time.

As you can see all 3 matches were very close and I understand that everyone enjoyed themselves.

There will be a return match (to be arranged) and that will be at St. Neots.

We had two members win medals at the Cambridge Sword Series Age Groups. Riccardo entered the Junior U17 men`s foil competition and came in a very worthy 2nd taking the silver medal. Another club member who had success at the same event was Livie who took bronze in the women’s U17 competition.

Very well done Riccardo and Livie.

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Medal Photo's

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On the same weekend, there was the VET`s 6 weapon International at Guildford.

We had several club members taking part, at least 8 were there.

Notable results were-

Men`s epee (Cat 2) John Prime 13th and Eric Langa 17th.

Mens Foil (Cat 3) Jacques Portal 13th, Richard Sage 23rd

Women`s foil (Cat 2) Tracey Coates 5th

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Full results can be found on the following link -

BVF 6 Weapon International EVF Circuit (fencingtimelive.com)

This past weekend saw the 2024 CWT at the Cambridge University Sports Centre.

This is a 6 weapon open and the biggest competition in the county and possibly the region.

There were over 200 fencers there over the weekend.

It was great to see so many HFC member's faces at the event and I am pleased to tell you with some success.

In the men’s foil, Nathan Doherty did brilliantly coming in second and taking the silver medal.

Great result Nathan and very well done.

In the same event, Riccardo came 24th.

Tracey Coates only just missed out on a medal, coming in 5th in the women`s foil. Remember they have a joint 3rd.

The men`s epee was the biggest event with 72 entries.

George Partridge came 13th and Max Titmuss 19th.

Overall there were 16 HFC members taking part. I have not listed everyone's positions but these can be found on the CFA website

The Cambridgeshire Fencing Association (cambsfa.org.uk)

Max Callaghan, who has only been fencing for about 18 months, entered the BUCs regional individual men's sabre, intermediate/novice class and won himself a silver medal.

Well done Max.

Eric Lauga took part in the IV Ciudad De Madrid Cup, men’s epee (male 2 Cat)

Eric fenced extremely well to get a bye in the L64 and then winning his L32 10-7, L16 10-2, L8 10-3 and his semi-final 10-4.

He then had an extremely hard fight in the final against Ludovic Lesne of France and lost 10-6.

Even so what a great result for Eric taking a silver medal in such an international Vets Tournament.

The conclusion of 2023's internal HFC championships with the sabre tournament taking place. The deserved winner was Nico Ignacio!

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There were several thrilling bouts throughout the night, Riccardo impressed in the pool, Keith nearly defeated Liz in the L8 (final score 15-14), and likewise Liz nearly stopped Nico taking the crown in the semi-final (score also went to 15-14).

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In the end we had a great participation level for all 3 tournaments (entries for epee were 16, foil 20, sabre 11). Thank you all for taking part and ensuring a smooth running of the tournaments, and also to all those who helped to referee - especially Mike who contributed his refereeing skills to each.

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Matt

Thank you to all participants in thursday's foil tournament! I hope everybody enjoyed taking part and showing some competitive spirit across all skill levels. We had 20 entrants and it is quite remarkable we were able to complete a round of pools and all DE's in the 2.5h we had.

The foil tournament was a very interesting affair with entries from fencers who usually prefer sabre and epee and a good level of participation from less experienced fencers too. The result:

1st - Nathan Doherty

2nd - Matt Rowland

=3rd - Riccardo, Josh Coates

Nathan put on a clinical show throughout the evening and did not let up in the final, laying down a dominant final score of 15-4.

Recognition goes to Fred who put in a great performance to finish as best novice taking 11th place.

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Matt

Thank you to all participants in yesterday's internal epee tournament. It was fantastic to see this small and friendly competition so hotly contested with fencers who do not usually do epee also joining in.

Throughout the evening close matches were fought in the pools and DE. A few upsets were recorded on the pool sheets adding a bit of spice to the DEs.

Semi finals were contested between Eric and Alex, and Matt and Artemis, recording scores of 15-13 and 15-8 respectively pitching Eric vs Matt in the final. Another close battle was fought and eventually Eric took the gold medal by one point, closing the match 15-14.

Congratulations to all, notable results being:

• Artemis won his pool and took bronze

• Stephen vs Robbo put on a great show in the L16

• Max was best placed non-epeeist finishing 10th

Full results attached for anyone who is interested. 

The foil tournament is scheduled for 28th September, there is still time to enter for anyone wishing to join in. The current fight for master of arms is between Artemis, Max and Liz with Artemis leading the way.

Matt

We had two members at the Leon Paul Summer Open. Max Tittmus took Bronze. John Prime finished 24th.

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Congratulations to Max on his medal this builds on his recent result of 6th at the UK Arm Forces Championships.

We had a number of people from the club across the weekend fencing at Norfolk Open, final places are below:

Saturday

Men`s foil.

11th Riccardo Sasso

15th Ali Zghaibe

19th Josh Coates

24th Ian Coates

Women`s foil

6th Tracey Coates

Sunday

Mens Epee

2nd place with a silver medal Sam Luckman. Very well done Sam, great result.

5th Eric Lauga

20th Andy Luckman

22nd Julian Williams

Eric Lauga travelled to Paris to take part this past weekend in the Criterium Mondial Veterans 2023.

Eric`s epee event was on the Saturday with over 40 entries from many different countries.

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Eric got through to the L16 and then only just lost 9-10 and which put him in 12th  place,  when looking at the entry that was a very good result.

Well done Eric.

There were a number of club members at the Cambridge Open Air 2023 , an open air Epee competition. Tim Bissell had a succesfull day coming 6th.

The final placings for other club members was:

Andrew Luckman - 9th

Max Titmuss -12th

Michael Robinson - 20th 

Peter Walker - 23rd

Nico strikes gold again at the GB Cup over this past weekend.

After winning gold at the Great Yarmouth Invitation epee and then sabre a month ago he has now added to his collection the gold medal in the men`s sabre at the GB cup. This event is a BFA National intermediate competition with fencers throughout the UK qualifying via their regions.

Congratulations and very well done Nico.

We had two HFC fencers there, Maxim Callaghan and Nico Ignacio.

Although initially, they were only entering the sabre they were persuaded to enter both and make a complete day of fencing as the epee was in the morning and the sabre in the afternoon.

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Nico had particular success taking Gold in not only his preferred weapon Sabre but in the Epee also!

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Congratulations Nico!

We had the first for many years a Cambridge Leon Paul Junior Series taking place at Netherhall School Cambridge.

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This was foil only and with U9, U11, U13 and U15 both girls and boys events.

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Monty took home a bronze medal coming third in the boys U15 event. Very well done Monty.

A number of HFC members took part in the Eastern Region Senior Championships held at Stevenage.

Results as follows:

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Men`s Foil –

Nathan Doherty came 2nd taking a Silver Medal.

Riccardo – 10th

Jacques Portal – 11th

Ali Zghaibe -13th

Women`s foil –

Ines Smith – 3rd taking bronze in her first fencing competition.

Men`s epee –

Matt Rowland – came 3rd taking a bronze medal

Tim Bissell – 6th. Highest ranked VET

Peter Walker – 17th

Men`s Sabre –

Nico Ignacio – 5th

Euan Smith – 8th

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Congratulations to Nathan, Ines and Matt on their medals! 

Over the weekend in Dublin  the VET`s 4 Nations Home International was held. Eric Lauga was a member of the England squad, fencing men`s epee.

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I am happy to report England won the event. The men`s epee was won by England, so well done Eric.

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I also understand one of our ex-members Silvia Brown was part of the England women`s sabre team.

Livi had a successful days fencing in the U16 Girls Foil at the Eastern Region BYC qualifiers taking a bronze medal.

Club members had a successful weekend at the Veterans British Age Group Championships with Andy Luckman winning silver in the men's 60+ epee. Also, Eric Laura took bronze in the men`s 40+ epee.

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Congratulations to both.

Club Armourer Tim Bissell had a successful day and won the competition.

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Congratulations on your Gold Medal.

Eric Lauga won gold fencing with Georgina Usher in team “BB”.

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Congratulations on your Gold Medal.

Alex Zaretsky took the gold medal in the London Region winter intermediate men`s epee competition.

Alex beat Paul Willmott of Northampton club 15-14 in his semi-final and the same score beating Dominik Nawrocki of Egham fencing club. Alex likes to run to the wire with scores like that but he came out on top in each one, well done Alex, congratulations.

There were a number of club members taking part at the Cambridge Winter Tournament  on the weekend of 7th and 8th January 2023. 

Congratulations to all those who fenced and in particular Nico Ignacio for his silver medal.

Men`s foil

36th Riccardo

39th Monty 

41st Jacques Portal

47th Oscar 

50th Josh Coates

51st Ian Coates

Women`s Foil

2nd Silver medal, Hannah Smyth (Former club member)

7th Tracey Coates

9th Livi 

Men`s Sabre

2nd, silver medal, Nico Ignacio

17th Euan Smith

26th Matt Butcher

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Men`s epee

20th Max Titmus

21st Matt Rowlands

22nd Sam Luckman

25th Andy Luckman

47th Alex Zaretsky

48th Tim Bissell

57th Peter Walker

64th Mike Robinson

There were a number of club members taking part at the British Veterans Fencing International at Guildford on the weekend of 7th and 8th January 2023. 

Congratulations to all those who fenced and in particular Eric Lauga for his silver medal.

Men`s epee cat 1 - 2nd, Silver medal Eric Lauga

Men`s epee cat 3 - 6th Andy Luckman

Men`s foil, cat 3 - 19th Jacques Portal

Also in attendance were former members Silvia and Andrew Browne who aslo had medal success.

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Women`s sabre, cat 4 – 2nd silver medal Silvia Brown

Women`s epee, cat 4 – 3rd bronze medal Silvia Brown

Men`s epee cat 3/4 – 17th Andrew Brown

On October 27th, 2022, Richard Sage of Huntingdon Fencing Club, took part in the inaugural Ireland / England veterans team fencing match.

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Tony Bartlett, John Troiano and Richard Sage fought for England while Gerry Gajadharsingh, Adrian Lee, Philip Lee and Patrick Dight fought in the Irish team.

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Founded in 2001 the well-established Pembroke Fencing Club hosted the match in Dublin. The match was a high standard, with Philip being the reigning European Veterans champion, and, at the recent Veterans World Championships in Croatia, John took the bronze medal with Tony 15th and Gerry 21st.

After a hard-fought match the trophy, generously donated by Adrian Lee & Partners, the Asset Management firm based in London and Dublin, was won by the England team. See photo with Richard, 2nd right.

 Nico Ignacio was fencing sabre at the RAF Open this past weekend.

Nico didn't drop a single fight in two rounds of poules. He was ranked 2nd overall after the first poules and then joint 3rd after the second round.

Nico entered the DEs with a first-round bye into the round of 16. He fenced against Stefan Leponis of Stockport Sword Club. He started off shaky losing, being 0-4 down. He started to turn the gears in the grey matter to be 8-6 up at the break to then close it out 15-10.

Nico then had the pleasure of fencing (Oskar) Jamie Klein from Cambridge University Fencing Club in the round of 8. He knows Jamie quite well on and off piste therefore for most of the match it was close until we got to 11 all. Nico managed to edge him out in 3 straight hits and finished the bout with his favourite stop cut. 15-11 was the final score.

Going into the semi-final, He had Daniel Twine to fence to who he lost  10-15. Daniel went on to win the event.

Monty entered the Northern Youth Challenge in Harrogate on Sunday the 2nd Oct. A small event but some good fencers there.

He fought well in his poule winning 4 of 5. He progressed well through the DE to semi-final where he was up against the person who beat him in the poule. Unfortunately, he still wasn't able to get the better of him but did get a Bronze medal.

Over the last weekend we had the Northamptonshire Fencing Championships.

A number of HFC members attended.

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Full write up and photos available here

This is a fun competition with each team having 4 fencers:

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Men`s foil

Women`s foil

Epee

Sabre

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Each must fence their opposite weapon fencer in the other team, fencing for 10 hits. It’s a relay style match with the team reaching 40 hits first wins.

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The teams draw lots at the beginning of each match for the order of weapons, so there is an element of luck but this sets up so great and exciting matches.

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HFC had two teams:

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Nearly 4 nations - Tracey, Keith, Peter  and Euan. Who finished 4th.

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The team with no name - Ian C, Josh, Ian W and Livie. Who finished 10th.

On the 3rd Sept was the BRC “A” grade. Monty, Rochelle and Livi all entered.

Monty fenced well in his pool with 2 out of 5 wins against fencers ranked above him. He lost his DE bout and came 37th. Rochelle came 24th and Livi 39th.

Great Yarmouth Invitation Foil on Sunday 21st August.

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Two club members entered, Riccardo and Nico.

Mike Ellis was there as a ref.

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It was a good event with a big range of fencing abilities, from novice right through to very good men`s foilist.

There were 4 students from Durham University who were on holiday in the area and entered which increased the level of fencing.

Both Nico and Riccardo made the last 16 but then lost their DE`s.

Nico came 9th and Riccardo 13th. Mike Ellis said

"I did not see Riccardo`s bout but I was the ref for Nico`s bout and it was very fast with many counter-riposte`s, some even going 4th or 5th."

The Commonwealth Fencing Championships were hosted at the magnificent SportsDock venue in East London between 9th and 20th August. With competitors from over 12 Commonwealth countries, the competition covered individual and team events for junior, cadet, senior, veterans and para fencers so it was a true festival of fencing.

The East of England region was well represented in the veteran’s category.

The best result was in Men’s Epee with Chris Howser securing a very impressive 3rd place. Stephen Domek was the best of the rest at 13th. Other results in the men’s epee included Andy Luckman from HFC(45th), John Prime (68th), Peter Walker also from HFC (80th) and Andrew Brown (ex-HFC Member) representing Scotland got Gold in his age group. In the Ladies’ Epee Carol Ashman and Olga Carter came 51st and 57th, respectively. Silvia Brown (Ex-HFC Member) finished 45th in age group.

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In Men’s Sabre there was also an excellent result for Julian Ghosh who came 8th with Simon Gladwell coming 65th.In the Ladies’ Sabre Tracey Russen was 27th. Silvia Brown finished 2nd in age group.

In Men’s Foil, Keith McWilliams and Richard Sage both from HFC reached the last 32 coming 23rd and 30th, respectively. In Richard’s case losing to the eventual winner. There was also Giles Rhodes who came 35th. Lisa Drage was the sole representative in the Ladies’ Foil and came 38th overall.

Thanks should also go to the organisers for such a wonderful event. With 66 individual and team competitions being held covering junior, cadet, senior, veteran and para categories, this was no small achievement. Some observations from the event:

• A formal (and strict!) weapons control was in place and highlighted the need to maintain equipment. This was, perhaps, the most stressful part of the event for those unfamiliar with weapons control.

• The standard of presiding was very high with all rounds being overseen by FIE presidents. Rules were strictly applied with red and yellow cards being awarded for various infringements including covering of target in foil. (Juniors/cadets – you have been warned!)

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Whilst the event was competitive on the piste, the camaraderie amongst the fencers off the piste was very evident. If you have not taken part in a veteran event before, I would encourage you to do so.

Monty, Livi, Rochelle and Kyle all entered the Leon Paul Junior Series (LPJS) foil competition last weekend.

Livi fought really well. Went out in the DE to someone she beat in the poule which annoyed her. It was a tough comp. Well done Livi, always good practice.

Monty did well in the boys under 15 with some of his competitors ranked in the national cadets so it was a high standard and therefore was very pleased to get a medal coming third and picking up a bronze. Great stuff Monty, next a silver or even a gold!!

Rochelle was in the girl's U13 and fought her way to the semi-final but unfortunately lost and took home a bronze medal but that’s still a good result, well done Rochelle. Gold next time!!

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Kyle in the boys U11 has improved a lot and got into Tableau of 16, finished 15 out of 30 fencers. Well done Kyle.

Veterans fencing is very active in the UK and across the world. 

British Veterans Fencing (BVF) promotes and supports fencing for people over 40 years old.

Veterans fencing is split into age categories: Cat 1 (40-49 years old); Cat 2 (50-59 years old); Cat 3 (60-69 years old) and Cat 4 (70+).

Throughout the year BVF holds competitions, either divided into individual age groups or open to all fencers over 40. Certain competitions are used to select fencers to represent Great Britain but there are also smaller open competitions and team events. One thing common to all veteran events is a spirit of camaraderie and inclusivity

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From Wednesday 25th May to Sunday 29th May 2022 the European Veterans Fencing Team Championships took place in the magnificent q.beyond Arena, in Hamburg, Germany. Eastern Region fencers Fiona Turnbull (ladies foil and epee), Chris Howser (epee), Andy Luckman (epee) and Richard Sage (non-fencing foil captain) were selected to take part.

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From Richard Sage.

As you know I was non-fencing captain in the men’s foil. We beat Germany, Poland, France, Hungary then lost to Italy in the last fight in the finals so came 2nd with silver. But I wasn’t the only HFC club member there. Andy Luckman was in the men’s epee team who came fourth out of a field of 13 countries. A great team result.

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If you are over 40 and are interested in knowing more about fencing in the veteran's competitions click here. 

The past weekend saw hundreds of young fencers descend on Hatfield for the 2022 England Youth Championships.

There was a number of young fencers who fence at HFC compete and below are the results, I hope I have not missed anyone.

Under 13 girls foil – Rochelle, Silver medal 2nd place, Excellent result Rochelle.

Under 15 boys foil – Monty,  12th place, Very well done, good result Monty

Under 15 boys foil – Arran, 22nd place, well done Arran

Under 13 boys foil – Alex, 25th place, well done Alex   

Under 15 girls foil – Livie, 26th place, well done Livie

Under 15 girls foil – Jasmine, 27th place, well done Jasmine

Under 11 boys foil – Kyle Leung, 27th place, well done Kyle

These large competitions are never easy for young fencers, nerves can play a big part with so many fencers and people at the event, so I congratulate all our young fencers for entering and doing their very best.

WELL DONE TO ALL

This past weekend saw the British Youth Championships (BYC) taking place in Sheffield.

This is the biggest youth competition of the year with well over 1000 young people taking part over 3 days in different age groups, weapons and gender.

For young people to qualify for this event they had to take part in their region's qualifying event and do very well.

The Eastern region was represented in all categories.

We had several members of HFC making the cut and qualifying for the BYC and competing against those who qualified from all the other regions of the UK.

Oscar qualified for the boy's U16 foil.

Oscar Won 4 out of 6 in his Pool and was ranked 30 out of 82. He then had a bye for the first DE.
He lost the third DE bout fencing against the No 3 ranked fencer. 

Final position 27th out of 82.

Very well done Oscar

Monty qualified for the boy's U14 foil. 

Monty fenced well in his pool and was ranked 49th out of 73 fencers.

He won his first DE bout winning 15-11 to progress to the last 32 but lost 11-15. 

Final position 32nd

Very well done Monty

Livie (Olivia) who has only just joined HFC qualified for the girl's U16 foil and came 54th.

Great effort Livie

 For all 3 young fencers just to qualify for this national competition is a great result. It is also a daunting experience to attend such a major competition with so many fencers attending.

Well done to all!

Mike (Rob) Robinson entered the men`s epee and came 8th, well done Mike.

Victor (Vlad) one of the ARU fencers that came to the club a few times entered both the men`s epee and sabre

In the men`s epee Vlad came 11th but in the men`s sabre he came 1st, Very well done Vlad.

It was very special for Vlad as his parents were visiting the UK from Romania for a few days and attended the event to see their son take GOLD.

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Pictures from event available HERE

Richard Sage was part of the men's foil team for England, winning all but one of his fights. This helped England win the men's foil as well as helped England win overall. 

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Congratulations Richard.

The results can be seen in the image.

Nico Ignacio travelled to Exeter for the Exeter Open this past weekend (Sunday 3rd April).

Nico had entered the men`s sabre.

Nico did very well in his pool, won 5 and lost only 1. That result gave him a bye into the L16.

He was knocked out in the Last 8, losing 15-8. Giving him a final competition position of 6th, see attached.

Good result Nico against some very good men`s sabreurs. 

The Leon Paul Junior Series took place on the 26th of March at the Leon Paul Fencing Centre. HFC member Rochelle had a very successful day fishing first in the under 13 girl’s foil. Very well done Rochelle, great result.

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Riccardo and Monty also attended the competition entering the boys U15 event. They were 17th and 19th out of 29 after the 2 poules. Riccardo made it to the last 16, but Monty got eliminated.

The Eastern Region Individual Championships took place on Sunday 27th March 2022 in Stevenage. The club had a number of members entered in four events and the results including 3 medallists are below. Well done to everyone that took part and congratulations to the medallists on their successes.

Women`s foil – Hannah Smyth – SILVER, 2nd place

Men`s sabre – Nico Ignacio, BRONZE, 3rd place

Women`s sabre – Liz Bujor, BRONZE, 3rd place

Jacques Portal and Arran MacLennan took part in the men`s foil.

The Cambridgeshire County Sabre took place at HFC on 17th March. The club had four members competing and took three medals as below. Congratulations to the medal winners and all that took part.

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Women`s Sabre –

Liz Bujor, GOLD, 1st place

Men`s sabre –

Nico Ignacio, SILVER, 2nd place

Euan Smith, BRONZE, 3rd place

Dan Tozer,  5th place

On the 27th Feb, the Cambridgeshire Fencing Association held a Junior Foil competition at the Stephen Perse School Cambridge.

There were 3 competitions, U11, U14 and U16. Each event was mixed male and female.

There was very good support for the competitions with over 60 entries across the 3 competitions.

Must have one of the biggest turnouts for the county for some time which speaks highly of the interest in fencing with young people in Cambridgeshire.

Huntingdonshire Fencing Club had an interest in a number of young people entering who fence at our club.

In the under 11 competition, Laura came 12th. This was Laura`s first competition, well done Laura.

In the U14 competition, Rochelle Leung came 1st. Rochelle has only just joined HFC. Great performance Rochelle and look forward in seeing you fence more at HFC.

In the same event Monty came 3rd, Monty is also a new member to HFC of about 3 weeks or so. Well done Monty.

In the U 16 competition Riccardo came first, great result Riccardo. Again, Riccardo has recently joined HFC approx. 3 weeks ago.

Aaron came a very creditable 3rd as Aaron has only just returned to fencing after a 3 year layoff due to a change in school. Well done Aaron good result.

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Also in the U16 was Grigori who came 9th. This was Grigori`s first competition, well done Grigori.