Sorry for the short report this month but time is against me! Anyway, on what started as a quiet October night, for the monthly club competition that was delayed by a week, soon became a scorer’s nightmare, as more people gradually entered the fold as the night wore on. From trying to figure out the running schedule for a four-man poule, we ended up with a full ten-man poule and catch up on the running schedule! The format was a standard poule event, followed by a Direct Elimination (DE) round. The poule matches were fought to five points each, however, if a double hit occurred, it was discounted and the match continued. In the DE rounds, both the final sixteen and quarter finals were to be fought to five points each, the semi-finals to ten points each, but the final was the first to fifteen points.
Rob started the evening as he meant to go on, winning his first match but failing in trying to keep a clean sheet, with Mark, Phil and Sandy all managing to score twice against him. Henry, despite his late arrival managed seven out of nine wins, with Phil only just managing to beat him 5-4, but Robert showing no mercy with a 5-0 trouncing! However, Sandy and Phil were hot on Henry’s heels, with both men also achieving seven wins apiece. Peter, Mark and Steve all managed four wins each, while Claudia had three wins and, in the shock of the evening, Dave only managing two victories at the poule stage – clearly, he was already in holiday mode! Bringing up the rear was the Jake/Torran duo, playing as one, who claimed a single victory.
The following Tuesday saw the DE stage of the competition. With Claudia out ill, it meant that there was only one match in the last sixteen; Steve versus Jake, with all other players granted a bye. Steve managed the win, 5-4, in a very closely fought duel. The last eight saw all matches played, again, to a match winning five points. Dave, clearly in better form, was only just seen off by Rob at 5-4, Sandy was almost given his marching orders by Peter, but, just like Rob, scraped a 5-4 victory. In the bottom half of the DE table, both matches were finished at 5-3, with Phil beating Mark and Henry putting an end to Steve’s run.
The semi-finals were comprised of 2 x 3-minute rounds and/or the first to ten points. Here, it was the young guns showing the old guard how it is done, with Rob beating Sandy 10-5, but in the other quarter-final, Phil defied his years, pushing young Henry all the way to the end, with Henry barely scraping the win at 10-9.
The final was highly anticipated, but with Rob in his element on the 3 x 3-minute rounds and/or the first to fifteen points, it was inevitable that he would bring his A-game. Having not had this format in the monthly competition for some months, Rob has been vocal on his desire for it to return and, in doing so, proved his worth with 15-3 victory over Henry. Well done, Rob, but for the sake of a change of champion, we’ll have to go back to the one-hit format for next time!!!
Congratulations to all fencers who competed, it’s been a while since we’ve done a standard competition and, for all it’s worth, it looks like Rob is correct and this format really is his forte! Well done to our champion, Robert, who will be double celebrating the win AND a big birthday in the same week! Age is no barrier to this man!
