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 15^th, Phil in 20^th and Steve in 22^nd.  

The girl’s knockout got underway with Claudia up first against the local Crawley girl who was seeded 4^th.  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 6^th place, and Sofia went on to medal in 3^rd.  By finishing 3^rd, 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!

BLACKHEATH INTER-CLUB COMPETITION MAY 2023

Despite another Tuesday night of traffic hell locally and, the usual search for a car parking space that has dominated our recent Tuesday night arrival, both Blackheath and Gravesham fencingj clubs made it to Cygnet Leisure Centre for a night of fencing, club versus club.  We had managed to hire the entire hall, which was just as well as we had three pistes running for the inter-club matches, a piste for free fencing and, Blackheath had managed to amass a lovely number of junior foil members to take on the lovely Theodora from Gravesham’s Friday night junior section.  

Once the equipment was set up, we got off to a quick start as there was a lot to fit in, with Gravesham yet again having a busy number of attendees, and Blackheath amassing nine fencers, having not had a venue to practise in, in recent weeks, due to the ongoing academic exams nationally.

At the front end of the hall, the old guard of Steve, Scott and Paul (yes, I know, less of the ‘old’!) got proceedings underway with the foil competition. Blackheath took an early lead, which was enough for them to gain the momentum through the first few fencing rounds, however, Steve’s second match saw him storming away with the points, managing to bring the score back to 34-32 in Blackheath’s favour, with time halting his blistering points accumulation.  Unfortunately from then on, the youth of Blackheath took over and they dashed away as 40-33 winners.

Gravesham Foil Team – (L-R) Paul, Scott, Steve – looking very manly and masculine!

Gravesham’s Epee 1 team saw Will and Finn join up with Rob, who had made it, despite it still being the school term in progress and a rush hour accident blocking his main route on the motorway.  Rob took Gravesham into an early lead, but Blackheath’s Gully had a monstrous round, finishing it 10-5 in Blackheath’s favour against our Will.  Finn was held off by Blackheath’s Henry, with Valeria (Blackheath) making quick work of Will.  Rob had a blistering round against Blackheath’s Henry, managing to pull the score back to 25-22, but still in Blackheath’s favour.  That three point lead continued to haunt Gravesham, until Finn’s final round against Valeria.  The Gravesham points accumulated thick and fast at Finn’s epee, putting us into a 40-39 lead before the final pairing.  Rob versus Gully was going to determine the victor here.  Despite a good luck kiss from his lucky charm, Rosie, Rob was outfenced by the formidable Gully, the Blackheath player who didn’t lose any of his rounds.  Meaning that Gravesham lost 45-42, proving that all those rounds earlier on, with a three point deficit, had come to fruition at the final post.  Although, Rob did win the contest for the greatest fleche of the night!  

Gravesham Epee 1 – (L-R) Will, Rob, Finn – although I should put a picture of Rosie here, far more beautiful!

Piste 3 saw the Gravesham Epee 2 team take up the reins against another very young looking Blackheath team.  Dave, Rohan and Mark were up against Raphael, Andy and Alex.  Blackheath obviously needed a bit more of a warm up than Gravesham, because despite Dave giving Gravesham and early lead, the Blackheath boys managed to scrape the second round to a 10-9 lead.  From then on the Blackheath team had got used to their surroundings, while the Gravesham team were obviously taking theirs for granted, because once Blackheath took an impressive 15-9 lead after the third fencer, they never looked back, eventually taking the title 45-24.  

Gravesham Epee 2 – (L-R) Rohan, Dave, Mark – looking like they’ve barely broken a sweat!

Once the main events were over, there was still time for more fencing, but, given the losses that Gravesham had received the first time round, we quickly put Gravesham Epee 3 and 4 teams into battle, hoping that the lack of respite would at least give us a win later on in the evening.  Gravesham Epee 3 was made up of more than 3 fencers, in the hope that fresh legs would tire the three Blackheath bucks who they were up against.  However, despite Richard, Claudia and Sofia putting up a brave fight, time got the better of the them and the experience of the Blackheath team shone through despite the number of fights that they had produced that night.  Time constraints also meant that Tadek and Jaina were unable to help Gravesham pull back some precious points, with Epee 3 eventually losing 35-13…but we’ll blame the time limitation on losing this one!

Gravesham’s final hope was resting on Epee 4, consisting of Stuart, Peter, Sean and Henry.  However, they were up against the Blackheath Epee 1 team, who had already proved their worth against three of our strongest fencers.  After an evening of casual fencing, when Peter was put to the test, he came up trumps, blazing the piste against Valeria, helping Epee 4 back to 16-9 deficit.  Time put paid to the comeback, but in the next match up, Sean matched Blackheath’s Henry point for point leaving Gravesham still trailing, but 21-14.  Unfortunately for Gravesham’s Henry, he was up against the man of the night, Gully from Blackheath.  Gully’s prowess in the sport saw him pull lead forward in Blackheath’s favour to 30-20.  Stuart was up next and took points from Blackheath’s Henry, helping bridge Gravesham’s deficit to 35-28, however, Valeria and Gully finishing for Blackheath, saw Gravesham have to bow out 45-31.  

So, overall victors on the night were Blackheath, with not a single team loss in all five events.  However, I think they appreciated getting in some practice, having not had a facility for a few weeks and we certainly enjoyed the different faces and getting everyone involved against different people.  Thank you to Steve for arranging everything, to everyone who turned up and was so enthusiastic on the night and, hopefully, we can arrange a visit from a different club soon.  

A special mention must also be made to Theodora.  Theodora is lovely, young lady who regularly attends our Friday night junior session.  She came along on this evening to try her hand at a foil competition against other juniors from Blackheath.  Theodora fought foil against four of the Blackheath juniors.  Despite not winning a match on the night, Theodora did score points against her much more experienced, older and taller opponents and showed that, with her positive can-do attitude and a regular commitment to training, she has the potential to go far in the sport.  She did really well on the night, should be extremely proud of herself as she was given a glowing report by other members of the Gravesham team for her attitude, aptitude and constant smile!  Well done Theodora, you did the club proud.  

Henry from Blackheath being presented with the trophy by Gravesham Captain, Scott.

As the final Tuesday of April rolled around, everybody was eagerly looking forward to the club epee championship.  On the night, 16 attendees meant for two poules of 8 and another busy evening for the scorer!  The format for this month was the same as in January; poules, followed by direct elimination with first to five hits; followed by first to ten hits at the semi-final stage and, first to 15 in the final match.

Will had an impressive showing in his poule winning six out of the seven duels, with Finn and Steve hot on his heels with five out of seven victories each.  Stuart was up next, clocking up four wins, but a special mention to Sofia, who managed three out of seven wins in a very impressive poule. 

Mark and Henry were the stand-out stars of poule 2, having won six out of seven fights each.  Phil clocked up five wins and Richard and Claudia were hot on his heels with three victories each.  With a number of sword repairs and a change of equipment on piste 2, anybody would have thought the April Fool’s Day had been delayed this year and, this meant that only the poules were completed on the night, with the DE being completed the following week.

The next Tuesday saw us enter the month of May and, after a Bank Holiday weekend, it would be interesting to see who was still in peak condition to take the trophy for the April Epee Club Championship.  From the previous week, only 14 fencers were available – a bonus for either Tadek or Phil because, with Jaina and Finn missing, it meant that the victor would have a bye through to the quarter-finals.  Phil conquered.  Steve saw off Claudia, proving that the previous day’s BYC (British Youth) competition and the long journey home, had proved too much on this occasion.  On the other hand, Sofia rode high on her experience at the BYC’s and used the knowledge gained to see off Richard and proceed to the quarter-finals.  Will and Steve had a right humdinger of a duel, with Steve coming off victorious by one glorious point.  Henry and Rohan were also evenly matched, but Henry managed to give himself a two point triumph.  

The semi-finals saw Mark pitched against Phil and, Steve versus Henry.  The wait between rounds, due to the bye, obviously disadvantaged Phil, as he was overcome by Mark 10-7.  Another closely fought match saw Henry overpower Steve 10-8, setting up a Mark versus Henry final.  With everyone gathered around and after a quick rest for both fencers, the final was on!  In the early points the match was even, however Henry managed to pull away and gain some distance, in points, between himself and Mark.  Despite a couple of comebacks, Mark was unable to lessen the lead and Henry found himself victorious, in this format, just like he did in January.  It looks like, in order to win in this set-up, the rest of the field will have to hope that Henry is on holiday next time!  Who can take this crown away from him?  Well done Henry!

The May competition will be on the last Tuesday and the plan is poules, followed by one-hit direct elimination again, unless Mark has other plans!  See you all then.  

MARCH CLUB EPEE COMPETITION 2023 The final Tuesday of March 2023, saw 16 fencers from the club, gather for the March Epee competition.  News that the knockout stage would run as a team relay left many in confusion, especially as changes were being made, depending on time and numbers!  After a chaotic start, thanks to the scorer allowing some latecomers into the fold, some fencers had had (what the scorer called) “warm up games” much to the disgust of those already having expended serious energy on their pursuit of a win!  However, by the end of the night, all of the poules had been completed and not many surprises were given in the seedings.  Four teams of four were decided by seeding and, with time short, it was decided to carry on over to the following week.The following Tuesday, the club found itself with 14 fencers present, some of whom were changed from the poules round the preceding week.  

As the monthly club competition is merely a bit of (serious!) fun, it was decided to continue with the four teams of four, substituting the new players for those who hadn’t made it and, in the case of two teams, one fencer having to fence twice.  At least everybody got to participate.  First up was Team A (Sandy, Phil and Claudia – with Sandy fencing twice) against, the favourites, Team C (Steve, Henry, Will and Mischa) piste 1, with Team B (Mark, Richard, Peter and Mark fencing again) against Team D (Rohan, Sofia, Dave and Jaina) on piste 2.  Each pair of fencers would remain on until their team was first to amass the step of 3/6/9 or 12 points.    Sandy’s team started as the meant to go on, with Sandy taking a short lead before handing over to Phil.  

Henry had a storming round against Phil, managing to pull the score back to 6-6, before Will took over to give the favourites a 9-6 lead.  Last up was Sandy again, who was pitted against the young buck, Mischa, but, despite Sandy’s misgivings he managed to see off the young pretender, to take Team A to the final and push the favourites down to the third place play-off.  The piste 2 competition was much closer.  One point between Rohan and Mark stayed the same after Sofia and Richard’s match, with Team D, hanging on by the single point.  Peter managed to swing the favour in Team B’s direction, again by a single point, with Mark fencing again and retaining that lead to see them into the final against Team A.  The third place play-off provided no surprises with the favourites at the start of the competition, Team C, gaining the lead after the second fencer, and staying ahead right until the end.  In the final relay game, both teams had a fencer who was to fence twice.  In Team A, it was decided that Phil was to be that fencer, with Richard taking the baton for Team B.  

Team B took an early lead, with the second fencer maintaining the difference by the end of their bout.  Peter had a blinding match against his dad, Phil, amassing points and seeing Team B pull away with a five point lead and one fencer still to go.  With Richard also on form and having his second match of the final, he too gained points against Claudia, leaving Team B victors with a 12-6 winning scoreline.  Well done all, it really was a great competition.  It never ceases to amaze everyone how these events never seem to go the way that everyone might summise at the start!  

Next competition (format to be decided) will be on the last Tuesday of April.  All fencers wishing to compete must arrive by 7.30pm.  See you then.  

 

 

SOUTH EAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS FEBRUARY 2023

Sunday 5^th February 2023 saw 3 Gravesham Fencing Juniors compete at the Triangle, Burgess Hill, Crawley, in the South East Regional Championships (and BYC Qualifiers).   Jake drew the short straw, on the day, with an 8am sign in, for the boys U14 epee.  He fought well in a very difficult poule, with only non-score against the eventual runner up.  Half of his pool finished in the top 10 overall (out of 31 fencers), with six of the eight competitors finishing in the top half of all fencers – not the dream start to your day!  With the other poules much more evenly matched and the indicators therefore benefitting those fencers, Jake found himself up against the number three seed for the first stage of knockouts.  Jake held his nerve well, scoring four points against a fierce and, much higher seeded competitor, with the 15-4 loss not giving a true indication of how well Jake fenced on the day.

Next up, with a much more respectable 10.30am sign in was Sofia, in the girls U16 epee.  A good field of 24 competitors did not faze Sofia.  A good poule showing saw her win 3 of her 5 matches, with even the losses amassing three hits each, giving her a good indicator and seven seeding for the tableau.  A bye in the first tableau round, saw her facing the 10^th seed in the quarter-final.  Unfortunately, the lengthy wait between the poules, the bye and the quarter-final, saw Sofia slightly behind her opponent, who had not suffered the same fate and seemed more match ready, having fought continuously through each round.  The 15-4 loss in the quarter-final, did not do justice to how close the match actually was.  The final result saw Sofia finishing in 11^thplace overall – and qualifying for the BYC’s in April/May2023.

The final competitor was Claudia in the girls U14 epee competition.  With only 9 competitors and eight BYC places up for grabs, all Claudia needed to do was beat one of her rivals to qualify for the Bank Holiday Mayday BYC competition.  Two wins and only one non scoring loss in the poules was enough to see Claudia hit the knockout stage as the 4^th seed and get herself a bye to the quarter-finals.  A tougher match in the quarter-final, against the 5^th seed, saw Claudia manage to claw away a two point lead.  Multiple double hits later and Claudia had managed to secure a semi-final place with a 15-13 win.  The semi-final match was against the number one seed, who had shown her prominence throughout the competition so far.  Claudia managed to score four points in the match, but was overcome by her opponent’s superiority on this occasion.  However, her third place trophy was enough to secure her a place at the BYC at the EIS at Sheffield, along with Sofia, on the May Bank Holiday weekend.  

Well done to all three competitors and good luck to the girls in Sheffield.  

FEBRUARY 2023 MONTHLY CLUB EPEE COMPETITION

The last day in February, the 28^th, saw the second monthly club Epee competition of 2023.  With almost as many entrants as the January competition, it was looking to be a busy night again.  Henry, January’s victor, was unable to make the February event; many claimed he had merely hit a lucky streak the previous month, but the reigning champ had decided to bow out, claiming that you should always leave the audience wanting more!  So, the coveted trophy was up for grabs.   To make this month’s event all the more unpredictable, the knockout stage of first to five, then first to ten at the semi-final and the first to fifteen for the victory match, had been replaced, at each stage, with a one hit knockout; this could be anybody’s night.  

By chance, the poules were a much more evenly matched affair, with most fencers managing to win at least one of their matches.  Paul and Stuart were the stand out fencers, with both managing to win all four of their respective matches.  The girls seemed to struggle the most, but with illness and school exams blighting the previous week’s practice for them all, it wasn’t entirely surprising.  Phil and Peter managed to avoid a family bout, however, Andy and Jack didn’t manage to avoid each other, with Jack, the young pretender, managing to take the family crown on this occasion.  

With a computer at hand, the poule results were input and the knockout stage was decided within a matter of minutes and, with enough time to complete the whole event in one evening.  Stuart, having come out on top of the poules, saw himself straight through to the quarter-finals, having secured a bye.  Some of the remaining matches saw some tense scenes, while the audience awaited for that elusive single hit.  Sofia, Jaina and Claudia were all seen off by the older competitors, whilst Andy beat Peter, perhaps showing that the one hit knockout definitely appeals to the wisdom of the older rival, whilst the youngsters prefer the stamina required for a longer bout!  The exception to the rule and perhaps the upset of the night, was Jack overcoming Will to secure his place as the Top Junior on the night and, reach the quarter-finals.

Here, Stuart came back into play, beating Phil and proving that the short rest between rounds, thanks to the bye, had benefitted him.  Dave overcame Andy, and Paul put an end to Jack’s run at the same time.  The shock of the quarter-finals was Richard beating Sandy – not a nice thing to do to the man who knocked out his fencing nemesis, Sofia, in the earlier round of the tableau.  However, proving that this was all skill and not just a lucky night, Richard went on to beat Paul in the semi-final and secure a showdown with Stuart, who had seen off Dave.  This was going to be either man’s trophy.  With plenty of time to spare before the end of the session, the two men decided to play straight on and, with a captive audience their final, one-hit fence off for the title of February 2023 Epee Champion, began.  After a cautious start, it was Stuart who triumphed on this occasion.  It was probably written on the cards though, because if the competition had been carried over, he would have been away the following week…just don’t tell Richard!  Well done everyone and we look forward to seeing you all on the last Tuesday in March for that month’s competition.  

FENCING UPDATE JAN-MAR 2023

CLUB COMPETITIONS

2021-2022 CLUB FOIL COMPETITION – FINALLY!

On a cold Friday night, at the start of 2023, Gravesham Fencing managed to hold, and complete, the 2021/2022 Club Foil Competition.  Although somewhat late, due to the ongoing Covid saga, those competing still managed to provide an evening of excitement through a number of pairings and, even the junior members of the club were drawn into spectating some of the matches, thanks to the ever vocal older members watching on avidly.  Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if the underdog, or the top seed is the fan favourite, but a good hit and well won point is always fervently cheered.  Eventually the overall winner (or several, if you include Junior, Open and Vets titles!!) was crowned.  Joe was crowned overall champion (and junior), with Paul claiming the Top Vet title!  

JANUARY 2023 MONTHLY CLUB EPEE COMPETITION

Following hot on the heels of the success of the club Foil competition, the last Tuesday of each month has been designated as the club Epee competition.  The last Tuesday in January saw 16 competitors, 4 of whom were juniors, take each other on, for the crown of January 2023 Epee champion and the holding of the prestigious new trophy to accompany a monthly win.  In a tough poule of 8 fencers, Joe came out top with 7 wins and Henry a close second with 6 wins.  Neither of the two top fencers in that poule had it entirely their own way, with many of their competitors managing to score points off of each of them.  The second poule was more evenly spread, with Sandy taking the top spot with 86% of his games won.  Steve and Paul followed hot on his heels, with Paul and Phil only marginally behind.  Despite the high numbers competing, the poules were completed, but the knockout had to be completed the following Tuesday.  Would the tables be turned with a week’s rest?  

The following Tuesday the excitement was growing as to how the knockout would pan out.  The top 16 and top 8 knockout rounds saw matches won on a first to five hits basis.  The semi-final was first to ten, with the final competing to 15 hits.  Due to Joe’s absence, Tadek managed the only bye of the top 16, taking him straight into the top 8.  Steve was starting to look good for a bye, only for Sofia to arrive with a minute to spare and subsequently knock him out with a 5-3 win!  In the top 16, Claudia was knocked out by Will and Jack suffered the same fate at the hands of Dave, with them leaving the competition as the Top U14 girl and Top U16 boy respectively.  The four quarter-final matches all finished with scores of 5-2.  Tadek’s run had come to an end at hands of Paul, with him leaving the competition here as the Top U14 boy and, Sofia suffered the same fate against Sandy, with her leaving the competition as the Top U16 girl.  Will saw Dave fall to his superiority and Phil suffered the same fate against Henry.  

Paul fought a very close semi-final against Will, just being edged out 10-9 by the younger man and coach.  Sandy fell foul of Henry’s superiority on the day, losing 6-10 to the young gun.  With the smaller loss to the opponent, Paul consoled himself with a self-proclaimed Top Vet title – you’ve to take what you can, I guess!

In the final, Henry took an early lead, with Will managing a comeback midway through the game.  Henry cottoned on quickly to Will’s tactics and managed to pull away enough, so that the double hits counted for nothing and he retained his lead with 15-11 win overall.  A short presentation of the new trophy to the victor, as well as chocolates for the junior competitors and bottle of something to calm the new scorer’s nerves completed a very enjoyable competition over two Tuesdays.  Congratulations to all of those who took part. 

The next event will be on the last Tuesday in February.