Fantastic fencers praised for super sportsmanship

First to fence were the nine-and-under foilists in an incredibly-hard field. After a really tough competition fenced with great sportsmanship and style, Lyminster Primary’s Jack Ashby-Lloyd and Chichester Fencing Club’s Florence Madden won bronzes.

CFC’s rising star Amruthesh Kumar took silver, losing to Ditcham Park’s Toby Baker, fencing with a perforated eardrum, only in the last minute on priority.

Ditcham Park and CFC’s Umi Johnston was awarded the most stylish fencer medal for the fencer most likely to succeed in the future.

The 12-and-under foil was hotly contested with several Sussex champions fencing in the same age group. Bronze medals were won by The Arena’s Rayyan Oozeerally and CFC’s Sussex champion Kai Hinkley.

In another close final, Westbourne House’s Arya Jeevathasan came second and CFC’s double Sussex champion Ethan Mansfield took the gold, his third in a week.

Hugely-talented Arya also won the gold medal as the best ten-year-old and Bishop Luffa’s Evie Watterson took the most stylish fencer medal for her beautiful footwork.

In the 15-and-under category, Windlesham House won three medals with Mosope Oyemade and George Nutting taking bronzes and William Tao silver, all in their very first competition.

CFC Sussex champion Rhianna Batchelor added to her wonderful tally by winning gold in her usual beautiful style. Ditcham Park won another medal with Jude Beaton the best 13-year-old.

The youngest fencers were only five years old but fenced beautifully with Westbourne House’s Harry Ross second and club-mate Oliver Dunn winning gold.

In the seven-and-under competition, some of the best fencing took place.

CFC’s Rocco Dew and William Watkins won bronzes, with Ditcham Park and CFC’s Hester Ellett giving her usual stunning performance to win the silver, only narrowly losing to returning champion Benjamin Deans, CFC’s mini-secret weapon.

The standard in this age group was so high that two stylish medals were awarded, both to CFC members – Flynn Oakford and Isabelle Smith, both wonderfully talented.

The afternoon saw epee and sabre added to the foil for the elite competitions where ages ranged from 13 to adult.

Peter Beadle and Kathy Evans, fencing in the unfamiliar weapon of sabre, shared the bronzes, with James Kirk stylishly winning silver, narrowly missing out to returning champion Robin Elliott, whose tally of golds annually is astonishing.

In the epee, up-and-coming foilist Joshua Briffett shared bronzes with club-mate Peter Beadle, who won his second medal of the day. Another foilist, Isaac Jolley, won the silver losing by a point to CFC star epeeist Robin Elliott.

The last event of the day, the elite foil, is always the most competitive, and this year was no exception. Robin Elliott won his third medal, this time a bronze, illustrating his versatility across all three weapons.

The youngest competitor in the elite, 13-year-old double Sussex champion Rosie Whitaker, was simply brilliant to take the other bronze. Oscar Pickering, another Sussex champion who epitomises everything good about the sport, took the silver in a lovely display of foil fencing. He narrowly lost to 14-year-old Harry Gray, the reigning south-east foil champion and a regular member of the England fencing Squad and one of Britain’s finest young foilists.

If you would like to try the sport, please contact Sharon Blackman on 07708 508332 or email [email protected]

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