De Almeida, Maxwell, Pallier, Russell & Sheffield Impress in London

The 2015-16 British Cadet & Junior Championships were held over the weekend of 16-17 February at the University of East London’s SportsDock Arena.  A total five hundred and ninety-three entries over the twelve events made for a busy weekend.

It was a double gold medal winning weekend for Caitlin Maxwell (Cadet & Junior Women’s Sabre Champion) and Dominic De Almeida (Cadet & Junior Men’s Foil Champion) and special mention also goes to Sebastian Pallier (Cadet & Junior Men’s Foil silver medallist), James Russell (Cadet & Junior Men’s Epee silver medallist) & Laura Sheffield (Cadet Champion & Junior Silver medallist in Women’s Epee).

Cadet Men’s Epee

Sixty fencers entered this event and it was George Morris (Stockport) who raised the trophy at the end of the day.  He beat Will East (KRFC) 12-9 in his semi-final whilst his opponent, James Russell (Royal Tunbridge Wells) beat Connor Head (Whitgift) 15-12 in the other semi-final.  The gold medal match was a tight affair but Morris prevailed 15-14.

Watch the full gold medal match – Morris vs Russell.

Cadet Women’s Epee

Fifty-four fencers took part in this event which was won by Laura Sheffield (Brixton).  Sheffield beat Charlotte Summers (Penthathlon GB) 15-11 in her semi-final as Eliza Woodhouse overcame Sarah Spice (Crawley Sword) by the same score in the other semi-final.  A brilliant final followed which Sheffield won 15-11.

Watch the full gold medal match – Sheffield vs Woodhouse.

Cadet Men’s Foil

Dominic De Almeida (Fighting Fit) came through a field of fifty-three to defend the title that he won last year, in this event.  He beat Matthew Abrahams (ZFW) 15-14 in the semi-final and his gold medal match opponent, Sebastian Pallier (Fencers Club London), beat Benjamin Stezaker (Salle Paul) on the other side of the draw.  De Almeida came through a tough final with a 15-11 victory.

Watch the full gold medal match – De Alemeida vs Pallier.

Cadet Women’s Foil

Thirty-one fencers took part in this event with Isabella Gill (Salle Paul) coming out on top.  She beat Kayleigh De Lange (Salle Oxon) 15-10 in the semi-final and faced Mhairi McLaughlin (Sally Holyrood), who beat Madeleine Brown (Laszlo) 15-14 on the other side of the draw, in the final.  Gill dominated the fight for gold, winning 15-5.

Watch the full gold medal match – Gill vs McLaughlin.

Cadet Men’s Sabre

Joe Pocknell (Shakespeare Swords) won this event, coming through a field of fifty-seven.  He beat Sam McLellan (Salle Osian) 15-10 in the first semi-final as Noah Matricciani (Foothills) beat James Edwards (Marshall) 15-14 in the second.  Pocknell came through a good final match with a 15-11 victory.

Watch the full gold medal match – Pocknell vs Matricciani.

Cadet Women’s Sabre

Caitlin Maxwell (Truro) topped the field of thirty-seven at the end of this event.  She beat Lizzie Moffat (Shakespeare Swords) 15-8 in their semi-final.  In the other semi, Maia Fashokun (Truro) beat Ellen Robbins Wilkinson (Marshall) 15-7.  The all Truro final was dominated by Maxwell who went on to take the title 15-8.

Watch the full gold medal match – Maxwell vs Fashokun.

Click here for full results from all of the Cadet events.

Junior Men’s Epee

Sixty-one fencers entered this event and it was Harrison Nichols (Redhill and Reigate Epee) who raised the trophy at the end of the day.  He beat Daniel McGlade (Brixton) 15-4 in his semi-final whilst his opponent, James Russell (Royal Tunbridge Wells) beat Harry Peck (Brixton) 15-14 in the other semi-final.  The gold medal match was a tight affair but Nichols prevailed 15-12.

Watch the full gold medal match – Nichols vs Russell.

Junior Women’s Epee

Fifty-nine fencers took part in this event which was won by Jessica Gundry (Truro).  Gundry beat Rose Grimshaw (Stockport) 15-13 in her semi-final as Laura Sheffield (Brixton) overcame Francesca Summers (Pentathlon GB) 14-12 in the other semi-final.  A brilliant final followed which Gundry edged 15-14.

Watch the full gold medal match – Gundry vs Sheffield.

Junior Men’s Foil

Dominic De Almeida (Fighting Fit) came through a field of sixty-eight to follow up his victory in the cadet event.  He beat Harry Bird (Salle Boston) 15-12 in the semi-final and his gold medal match opponent, Sebastian Pallier (Fencers Club London), beat Alexander Jones (Salle Kiss) 15-11 on the other side of the draw.  De Almeida came through a rematch of the cadet final with Pallier a 15-13 victor.

Watch the full gold medal match – De Alemeida vs Pallier.

Junior Women’s Foil

Thirty-one fencers took to the pistes in this event which was won by Kate Beardmore (Fighting Fit).  She beat last year’s winner, Ayesha Fihosy (Salle Boston) 15-14 in their semi-final as Katie Smith (Edinburgh) beat Jade Rowland (Premier Fencing) 15-7 in the other semi-final.  Katie Beardmore controlled the gold medal match, going on to win 15-11.

Watch the full gold medal match – Beardmore vs Smith.

Junior Men’s Sabre

Fifty-one fencers contested for the title in this event and it was Will Deary (Truro) who stole the spoils.  He beat teammate, Jamie Craze, 15-12 in their semi-final.  Jonathan “JJ” Webb (Camden) was his gold medal match opponent, having just beat George Suddards (Shakespeare Swords), 15-14, in the other semi-final.  Deary came through a tough final 15-13 to claim the gold.

Watch the full gold medal match – Deary vs Webb.

Junior Women’s Sabre

Cadet Champion, Caitlin Maxwell (Truro), made it a double gold medal winning weekend by coming through a field of thirty-one to claim this title.  She beat her teammate, Maria Chart, 15-13 in the semi-finals as Jessica Corby (Salle Osian) beat her teammate, Sarah-Jane Hampson, 15-4 in the other semi-final.  Maxwell made light work of the final, taking the title with a 15-8 victory.

Watch the full gold medal match – Maxwell vs Corby.

Click here for full results from all of the Junior events.

The Championship in Numbers

593 – entries

301 – Junior entries

292 – Cadet entries

350 – male entries

243 – female entries

234 – epee entries

183 – foil entries

176 – sabre entries

British Fencing thank the organising staff, numerous volunteers, referees, armourers, officials, fencers, coaches and parents for making the event successful.