Despite Will’s return to Gravesham, we only saw a trickle of people arrive for the delayed August 2023 monthly club competition, until the start time of 7.30pm arrived and again, we had a good number of 14 fencers.  Two poules of seven fencers (as decided by Sandy, much to Richard’s dismay!) got their fencing underway, with each bout being decided within the three-minute time limit.  Despite the hot and humid weather, the fencers gradually made their way through the rounds.  In poule 1, Claudia gave Sandy a shock, leading for most of the match, but the Scotsman coming good at the end – edging it 5-4.  Sandy continued to make good headway through each of his matches only being beaten by Harry.  Harry, returning to Gravesham after a stint away at university, managed to win all six of his bouts, with only Tadek and Sandy coming close to beating him.  Rohan and left hander, Tadek, were next in line in this poule each managing to win half of their matches, with Steve and Phil only managing two wins each and clearly on the ‘hustle’ for the one shot knock out the following week!  Despite not winning a match, Claudia landed some impressive shots and the score lines probably didn’t do her justice.  Maybe the one shot knock out will be her thing. 

In poule number 2, Paul won all of his matches, although two of them were so closely fought that he didn’t even win with the full five hits.  Mark and Peter were hot on his heels with four wins each, with one of Peter’s matches being quite bizarre in that the fencers seem to run at each other or away from each other, without landing a hit!  Will proved that, despite three months abroad, he had not lost his touch completely and won half of his matches.  Sofia followed on with two out of six wins and Jake and Richard both finished the night having won at least one bout each.  Richard was not happy with the knockout draw, having pulled Mark and has questioned the scorer’s ability, but a thorough examination has shown that all is indeed correct. 

However, due to illness and injury, the one-hit elimination week was also delayed, making the August monthly competition a record setting one, in that it is currently the longest running monthly club competition in Gravesham’s history (at the time of printing!).  Eager not to delay for a further week, as this would impact the commencement of the September competition, time ticked by as we awaited confirmation as to the fencers who could make the elimination week.  The Debnam’s had succumbed to Covid, Sandy was stuck in traffic, Phil had a knee injury and Sofia was stuck at home completing homework, leaving 9 of the fencers standing and ready to fight for the coveted trophy.  Harry, Mark, Claudia, Will and Steve were gifted byes into the quarter finals, with Steve really pulling the draw of the night and having another bye straight through to the semi-finals.  With only Jake v Peter and, Phil v Tadek having to fence in the final 16’s, could the Hutchins men show the rest of the field that they were continuing their good form from the previous month’s competition?  Sadly….no; leaving Harry v Tadek, Mark v Jake, Claudia v Will to fight for the places in the semi-finals.  Harry saw off Tadek, setting up a semi-final with Mark, who had beaten Jake, with Claudia eliminating Will to set up a semi-final with Steve, who had yet to fight anyone in the elimination stages.  This proved to be in his favour, as he managed to land the one shot that beat Claudia and set up a one-hit final versus Harry, who had beaten Mark.  The final was interrupted by Steve’s broken equipment (sword/wire/electronic equipment – who knows?) but the fencing equivalent of “turn it off, turn it back on again” was enough to see the final bout fought and, youngster Harry overcome the veteran Steve.  Well done to all of those who competed and get well soon to all of those who couldn’t make it!  A particular congratulations to Harry, who triumphed in his final session before he returns to university, we will see you back in October! 

I am off to prepare for the September competition which starts at 7.30pm sharp next Tuesday!  See you there.