BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS – DAY 3 REPORT

Monday 5^th May was the last day of the Championships.

Under 14 Girls Epee

Forty-nine fencers competed in this event.  The first semi-final saw Ellie Parmar beat Douce De Boisgelen 14-10 with Alexandra Powell defeating Charlotte Summers 15-14 in the second.

After an even start Alexandra started taking advantage of Ellie’s exposed wrist but Ellie was able to stage a comeback and only trailed 8-6 at the first break.  In the second period Alexandra continued to capitalise on the forward target and went on the win the title 15-9.

Under 18 Boys Epee

Thirty-five boys took part in this event.  Harrison Nichols faced Craig Worman in the final after Harrison beat Cameron Prior 15-5 in the first semi-final and Craig progressed 15-10 against Edgar Hornby in the other semi-final.

Benjamin Britton refereed the gold medal match which Craig started aggressively.  He pushed Harrison to his end of the piste executing precise hits to lead 6-3 at the first break.  Clearly satisfied with his lead, Craig was happy to let Harrison push him to his end of the piste and pick up hits when his opponent made mistakes.  He took a 12-6 lead into the final period.  Despite this Harrison came out fighting and his spirited comeback lifted his confidence.  However the deficit was too big and Craig became the 2014 Under 18 Boys Epee champion with a 15-10 victory.

Under 18 Girls Epee

Thirty-one fencers took part in this event with Katie Rawlins beating Sofia De Martin 15-13 in the first semi-final and Jessica Gundry overcoming Zoe Sheehan 15-6 in the second.

The gold medal match was refereed by Sarah Steacy where Katie’s rushed start allowed Jessica to build a lead.  Katie settled though and the match was tied at 6-6 by the first break.  A good start to the second period by Jessica saw her re-establish her lead at 8-6 before a number of doubles and a single took the score to 13-10 in Jessica’s favour.  Katie began to rush again and this played into Jessica’s hands as she went on to secure the title 15-10 with some precise parry ripostes.

Under 12 Boys Foil

Seventy-one boys took part in this event.  Jean-Baptiste Baigneres beat Lachlan Jarvie 8-7 in the first semi-final before Myles Ashworth – the Under 12 Boys Epee Champion – joined him in the gold medal match defeating George Genieser 10-5 in the other semi-final.

Jean-Baptiste took complete control of the fight from the start, hitting Myles with a variety of attacks, parry ripostes and counter actions.  He never looked in any danger and went on to take the title with a comfortable 10-1 victory.  Myles will have gone home content with his clutch of gold and silver medals though.

Under 14 Girls Foil

Thirty-nine fencers took part in this event with Beth Ellis beating Madeleine Whitfield 15-9 in the first semi-final and Tia Simms-Lymn – the Under 16 Girls Epee Champion – defeating Sarah Barrett 15-12 in the second.

The gold medal match was refereed by Chris Lennon and Tia worked from a long distance to pick off Beth with counter-attacks and parry riposte.  She held a commanding 9-2 lead going into the break and at the start of the second period she clearly wasn’t in any hurry to take the fight to her opponent.  Beth, however, had other ideas and increased the pace of the fight.  Sadly for her Tia was able to respond immediately and went further ahead at 12-4 up.  With Beth having to force the fight Tia was able to close it out quickly and took the title 15-4 with a ducking counter-attack to become a double gold medallist at this tournament

Under 12 Girls Sabre

Just sixteen girls entered this event which saw Aneesah Khan defeat Jess Simmons 10-1 in the first semi-final and Erin Corcoran beat Jenny Howart 10-8 in the other semi-final.

Kate Daykin was the referee for the final which started hard and fast.  Three points scored in a flash – all in the middle and by the break there wasn’t much in it as Aneesah led 5-3.  The second period started much the same as the first with fierce attacks and super-fast counter actions.  Aneesah continue to build on her lead but at 9-4 up had a decision over-turned in favour of Erin on video appeal.  Aneesah settled quickly though and took the title 10-5 with a stunning parry riposte.

Under 14 Boys Sabre

Forty-three fencers took part in this event with Bertie Holdsworth beating Barnaby Halliwell 15-9 in the first semi-final and Sam McLellan knocking out Matthew Pease in the second.

In the final Sam towered over Bertie but that didn’t stop Bertie from taking a 4-1 lead.  Patience, explosive speed and tidy footwork saw Bertie fly into an 8-4 lead at the break.  In the second period the two traded hits using the entire length of the piste but fantastic attacking sabre saw Bertie lead 14-6.  A comeback looked to be on the cards as Sam scored three in a row but Bertie took the Under 14 Boys sabre title 15-9, with a beautiful parry riposte.

Under 16 Boys Sabre

Forty-six fencers took part in this event and Jamie Craze went on to beat Thomas Jackson 15-12 in the first semi-final whilst Nicholas Howes overcame Samuel Hunkin by the same score in the other semi-final.

In the final, some excellent and fast parry ripostes in the middle saw Jamie storm to an 8-2 lead at the break.  Seemingly Nicholas had no real response to the onslaught but clearly the break had the desired effect.  As Jamie came out of the blocks fast in the second period Nicholas was able to land four clean parry ripostes to get right back into the match.   It was not quite enough though as Jamie went on to take the title 15-11 with a remise.

Full results can be found here.