Fencing News: Épée Champion and Pupils qualify for National Finals
West Midlands Age Group Épée Championships
It is fabulous that Fencing competitions have been able to return to normal this year. Earlier this term a group of RGS fencers travelled to Packwood Haugh School in Shropshire for the West Midlands Age Group Épée Championships.
In the Under 16 Girls event Zara Martin-Green was in unstoppable form, determined to dominate from the outset, winning five out of six of her pool fights, to be made the top seed. She flew through the elimination stages beating her opponent in the semi- final 15-4, before winning the final 15-11 to become West Midlands Girls Under 16 Épée Champion! Edith Wise was also fencing in the Under 16 Girls event finishing in 7th position.
In the Under 14 Boys event, Joe Kington was also on top form, winning all his fights in the pool stage to be top seed going into the elimination rounds. He beat his next opponent 15-7 in the last 8, but unfortunately lost the semi-final, finishing in Bronze Medal position.
In the Under 16 Boys event, Matt Fallows finished 6th and in the Under 18 Boys competition, Jack Pitt finished 13th, Will Fallows came 9th and Lucas Hancock did exceptionally well to finish 5th.
As well as being the West Midlands Age Group Épée Championships, this event is also the qualifiers for the 2022 British Youth Championships National Finals to be held at the England Institute of Sport, Sheffield over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
West Midlands Foil Age Groups
We are delighted to report that last weekend two keen RGS fencers travelled to Solihull to take part in the West Midlands Age Group Foil Competition. This competition is also the qualifying event for the 2022 British Youth Championships National Final.
In the Under 16 Girls Foil, Zara Martin-Green started the pool stage of the tournament winning three of her bouts, losing two and ended being seeded 4th. As one of the final eight fencers in the competition, Zara beat her opponent with an impressive score of 15-2, resulting in Zara reaching the competition’s semi-final round. In the semi-final she came up against the number one seed and a top International fencer and, while Zara fenced extremely well against such tough opposition, she was unable to get a win and so she finished 3rd in the competition. Congratulations to Zara for such a superb achievement which also results in her qualifying for a place at the National Finals in May.
Well done also to fellow RGS fencer, Isabel Pottinger who competed in the Under 14 age group. This was Isabel’s first serious fencing competition and she fenced extremely hard in all her bouts, resulting in her being seeded 12th overall.
Director of Sport, Gareth Roots, said: “Congratulations to Zara, Joe, Edith and Lucas who have all qualified for this year’s National Finals. This is a fantastic result and shows our RGS fencers are going from strength to strength in their Sport.”
Mr Nick Chapman
Fencing Coach
