KSC YOUTH EPEE DEVELOPMENT SERIES – AUTUMN 2025
On Sunday 5th October at Kings School, Canterbury, both Aiden and Henry competed for Gravesham in the Kings Youth Epee Development Series competition. It was the first out of club competition that both boys had competed in and they didn’t let their nerves overcome them and they did the club proud.
There were 22 entrants overall and many were seasoned fencers and competitors. This resulted in the first round of poules having two poules of 6 fencers and two poules of 5 fencers. Aiden found himself in one of the poules of 6, whereas Henry had the poule of 5; with both of the Gravesham boys up against all Kings students and one other in each of their poules. The poules consist of 3-minute rounds for each match, or the first to score 5 hits in each match.
Aiden found himself in a very tough poule, with only one fencer, on paper, who was seeded less than him. The matches, seemed to go true to form, with Aiden only winning one duel. Sometimes the poules just pan out that way. However, it must be noted that he scored hit in every single match, showing that he was more than worthy of his 16th seeding going into the Direct Elimination (DE) round and, had Will commenting that the final scoring in the poules did not reflect the standard of Aiden’s fencing.
Henry didn’t fair much better, with the quality competition, in his group, although he did have the benefit of one less fencer. With two fencers seeded way above him, it was no surprise that he won 2 and lost 2 of his duels. Again, just like Aiden, he scored impressively in his other two matches, showing that both the Gravesham boys would take no prisoners and give it their all.
After the poules, the gutsy performance of both boys was rewarded with Aiden seeded 16th and Henry 12th, going into the DE.
Aiden was first up and was matched against the 17th seed from the poules. In this round, the fencers have 3 x 3-minute rounds and/or the first to score 12 (normally 15) hits; this Aiden managed comfortably with a 12-3 win and taking him into the last 16.
Henry found himself in his first DE match against the number 21 seed from the poules. Unfortunately for Henry, he was up against a fencer who had just been blown away by his coach for his lax attitude and, as such, Henry was faced with a voracious opponent! The final score of 12 v 1, against Henry, was didn’t do justice to the fight that Henry put up, by the opponent was clearly buoyed by the telling off from his coach!
In Aiden’s match for the final 16, he was up against the number one seed. This is the problem with being seeded in the bottom half of the table post poules – you are up against the top seeds! Unfortunately, Aiden was beaten 12 v 1, which was not a complete surprise against the calibre of the opponent, however, Aiden fought well and, managed to score a hit against his opponent, an achievement that two others had failed to manage on the day.
Overall, Aiden placed 13th and Henry placed 17th, showing that with a few more outings under their belt and the first-time nerves over with, they could well be fencers to watch out for in the future. Well done boys and keep up the, VERY, good fencing!
If anybody would like to see the boys full results, please head to www.fencingtimelive.com and search for the event name and date.