The Team – (L-R) Coach Will, Claudia (if she fences with her eyes shut she’ll lose more!), Sofia, Dave, Phil and Steve (who seems totally surprised that I’m taking a photo!).
On the sunny Sunday of the final May Bank Holiday of 2023, five of Gravesham’s finest, three of the best supporters and the debonair coach, Will, made the journey, in surprisingly good traffic, to the Longhill Sports Centre in Brighton to compete at the South East Region Senior Epee for 2023. With the women short of numbers, they had been advised earlier on in the week, that if they wished to attend early, they could fence in the first round of the men’s poules, before being eliminated in preparation for their own event, whilst the men continued with their second round of poules.
Each of Gravesham’s fencers were evenly distributed among the poules, with all of the three Gravesham men happy that Claudia had been given the poule of death in the first round. This was not a problem for Claudia, as it was just being used as a warm up for the ladies event, however, Sofia and Phil had the unlucky match up in Phil’s first round of poules. Both the girls were thriving against their opponents, scoring well against the men and managing to win at least one match each. Once the ladies results were removed, it showed that Phil had done well winning two matches and losing the other two, but scoring well getting 4 and 3 hits respectively. Dave had been in a bigger poule, against some very strong competition, winning one match, scoring in three of them, but only losing one hitless. Steve was clearly on form in his poule, winning three of the four matches, but somehow losing the fourth and only scoring one point.
Whilst they were still sorting out round two of the men’s poules, the ladies started their event proper. One poule of seven ladies, saw the girls up against more mature competition and some fencers we had seen compete well at previous events. Claudia pouled well winning three of her matches, whilst Sofia could only manage one victory, but then again, Sofia always comes good in the longer elimination events. With Claudia seeded fifth and Sofia sixth for the elimination round, they waited to see who they would be up against, in a fight for a semi-final place.
In the meantime, the men had been competing in their second round of poules. Steve didn’t fair so well this time round, not managing a single win, but, was up against some tough competition that he had known from his time on the fencing circuit. Dave and Phil had been put together in the same poule for the second round, not ideal fencing against your own club member, but at this point, Dave had warmed up and managed four wins out of five, whilst Phil seemed to be saving himself, managing only one win! This left the men with Dave being seeded 15th, Phil in 20th and Steve in 22nd.
The girl’s knockout got underway with Claudia up first against the local Crawley girl who was seeded 4th. She was someone we had seen at a previous event and Coach Will had been beaten by her just two weeks prior. It was looking like a tough match. Surprising us all, given both the girls history, Claudia managed to take the lead in the match at the 11-10 stage. For the last few points the lead was to and fro, with the local girl taking it on the last point 15-14. Sofia followed up next against the number three seed, another local girl. Sofia took an early lead which was followed by a number of double hits. The lead was hither and thither for a few points before Sofia took the lead again and saw her retain that lead until the end, having amassed about 11 double hits in total. Although Coach Will tried to tell us that it’s fine to win by one point or 15 points, as long as you win, I can honestly say that from a supporter point of view, we’d like a bigger winning margin – our nerves are shot!
Sofia then went on to the semi-finals, fencing the lively and experienced number two seed. The competition then proved too good and Sofia bowed out 15-5. Overall, Claudia was presented with 6th place, and Sofia went on to medal in 3rd. By finishing 3rd, Sofia was invited to attend the GB Cup the following weekend, but had to decline given that she was too young! Oh to have that problem again!
Sofia receiving her third place medal
Sofia and Claudia with their medals
The men then stepped up for their direct eliminations. Steve and Dave were knocked out at the first stage by very worthy opponents and Phil made it through, leaving all of the Gravesham’s hopes on his shoulders. However, after a lengthy wait, he was finally up against one of the more well known faces on the circuit. After some self coaching about things he knew may be detrimental to his game, he held his composure, only to be defeated by a more vastly practiced opponent, and therefore missing out on the quarter-finals. A great day was had by all and all have proven yet again, that Gravesham is a club that can compete with the best of them.
Well done to the team. All had some great matches, particularly the girls who just seem to go from strength to strength, given the short time that they have been in the sport. Thanks also to Will for all of his coaching and advice on the day, we’ll miss you when you go to America and the biggest thanks to the support team of April, Jenni and Marina, who do a great job of keeping spirits up and won’t, anytime soon, be wearing cheerleading outfits!