The Cadet Women’s Sabre team of Keira Donnelly-Sallows, Hui Xin Sezille, Maya Sutton, and Tosin Ononaiye took a gold medal in the EFC Cadet Sabre event in Barcelona.
The quartet beat Hungary 45-32 in the final after getting past Germany 2, 45-38, in the quarterfinal, followed by Germany 1 in the semifinal 45-26. It was Tosin’s first outing with the GBR 1 team ahead of the upcoming European Championships in Naples.
It was also the team’s second EFC gold in less than two months. The same team, with Claire Shimmin in place of Ononaiye, took gold at the EFC event in Sofia in November, along with a strong result at the event in Madrid.
ADP Sabre lead Fran Whalley said: “I am so proud of the girls and their efforts this season. Coaches Alex (Bella) and David (Sach) have worked hard with the team and offered them great support.”
Donnelly-Sallows said: “I’m thrilled with our result today. Fantastic team work and team spirit with great coaching support from Alex and David.”
They weren’t finished there. Sezille and Sutton then returned the next day to both make the semifinals and pick up bronze medals in the individual competition, against a field of 157. Both put up strong showings against top Italian cadets, with Sutton falling to Vittoria Mocci 15-10 and Sezille taking 13 points off Brigitta Racz.
It was a performance that underlined the quality of GBR’s current cadet sabre women. Coach Bella added: “They had the right attitude and fenced with a lot of passion, but most importantly, they respected the tactics.”
“This is a a solid result for GB, which gives me confidence for a good result at the Cadet European Championship in Naples.”
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