Britiain’s Men’s Foil Team Strike Gold

Beazley celebrated its five-year relationship with British Fencing on Tuesday with the Beazley International Trophy at London’s Mansion House – Home of the Lord Mayor of London.

The afternoon session, which was open to members of British Fencing, featured two hard-fought semi-final matches.  The first one saw Great Britain take on the French and it was the home team that led 30-26 after six legs.  Despite a great effort from Jeremy Cadot, Enzo Lefort, Erwann Lepechoux and their reserve Julien Mertine, the French team could not recover and lost 45-41.  During the second semi-final between Italy and the USA the lead changed hands four times in the first four legs before Giorgio Avola, Andrea Baldini, Daniele Garozzo and reserve Edoardo Luperi took control of the match in the fifth leg.  The American team were unable to fight back as the Italians went on to win 45-38.

After a short break, Beazley’s guests began arriving for the evening gala session to see the French take on the Americans for the bronze medal, followed by Great Britain versus Italy for the gold.  Miles Chamley-Watson, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt started the match well for the USA, leading from the start.  By the time the teams had reached the final leg the USA were 40-31 up and despite a brave effort from Enzo Lefort, Miles Chamley-Watson anchored the US team to the bronze medal (45-37).

Excitement grew as the British team of James Davis, Laurence Halsted, Richard Kruse and reserve Marcus Mepstead were introduced for their gold medal match against the World Champions, Italy.  The Italians took an early lead in a cagey match, only for the scores to level up at 12-12 after three bouts.  A brilliant fourth leg by Halsted put the British team back in the lead (20-15), only for Avola to put in an equally superb leg for the Italians to level the scores at 24-24 going into the sixth leg.  A characteristically excellent tactical display from Kruse set the tone for the rest of the match as he put the home team into a 29-26 lead going into the crucial final three fights.  Each member of the British team then did a professional job to take the gold medal 45-39.

Speaking shortly after the event Chair of British Fencing, David Teasdale said; “What a spectacular day of fencing in such a beautiful setting.  Great Britain winning the gold medal put the icing on the cake.  It was great to see the Italians, French and Americans field such strong teams so our thanks goes to them but the biggest thanks of all goes to Beazley.  We could not have asked more from them as a sponsor and partner – and all of us at British Fencing wish them the very best for the future.”

If you missed the action from the medal matches you can watch replay of the live stream here.