SCORE SHEET STORIES – 2009 WORLD
CADET & JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Cadet Men’s Foil:
Hamish Chan:
He is from Fencing North’s NZ
Fencing Academy Club and Auckland Grammar School was the first of the New
Zelaand fencers on the piste, with a pool of seven fencers. Only SAFIN (Russia), Valentin LEGRAN (Belgium) and Hamish came with no previous FIE international record. Damian
KOPER (Poland) came with the highest World Junior Ranking of 77th,
his best results 6th in Lignano in 2008 and a 59th in 2007. Most
recent result was 85th at Moedling. Gabor NEMETH (Hungary) with a Junior World ranking of 175th, by comparison came 129th
at Moedling and 140th at Lignano. YOSHIDA Ren (Japan) was next with a best 2008-2009 ranking of 369, primarily based upon his 89th
place at Moedling, only 4 places behind KAPOR. Valentin. Thomas ALLEN (Great Britai n) came in with a best ranking prior to World Cadet Championships of 374
based upon a placing or 91st in London 2008. At that same event he
placed 115th so not much change in performance.
First bout was a cautious close
bout with the score locked at 3-3 against Valentin LEGRAN (BEL). Hamish held
his nerves and took the score to 4-3 with time running out and the Victory.
LEGAN’s final placing 81st.
Second bout against Thomas ALLEN
(GBR). Thomas took the upper hand, extending his lead. Hamish managed to keep
Thomas at bay, but was unable to put points on the board. Again time expired with
a victory for Thomas ALLEN 4-0. This would prove later to be a key bout
regarding final outcomes. ALLEN’s final placing 53rd, loosing
immediately in the DE 64.
Hamish’s third bout was against
Timur SAFIN (RUS). Clearly the dark horse from a country that has a record of
being able to field superbly trained fencers, even with no previous FIE
experience. Timur had great form, winning the bout 5-1. Timur SAFIN went on to
win all his bouts in the pool, clearly making him a strong contender for a good
final placing with a seeding of 3rd for the direct elimination. His
final placing was 17th. Timur being upset in the 32 by the 30th
seed KWAK Seung Yong (Korea) 12-15. Perhaps an indication that even at the top
level, experience counts in order to achieve consistent performance.
Starting the fourth bout against
YOSHIDA Ren (JPN) Hamish was 1 up 2 down, in need of another victory for a
chance of promotion. Hamish produced the goods with a crushing 5-1 victory,
excellent for his indicators. Holding YOSHIDA to just 1 hit deprived Ren of
promotion into the DE by the smallest of possible margins, just one hit.
YOSHID’s final placing 63rd.
Going into the fifth bout, Damian
KOPER (POL) was also in need of victories and put the hammer down. Hamish
responded but was overwhelmed by KOPER who notched up for himself a 5-1
victory. KOPER clearly wanted to go places and in spite of losses of 5-4 and
5-1 to NEMETH and SAFIN, Damian was doing everything well. Not just hitting but
finishing the bouts well with victories against all the fencers he had to beat.
The mark of the good fencers, and as we see later was the downfall of fencers
like SAFIN. In the same vain, 23rd seeded Damian KOPER went through
to knock over 10th seeded Jeremy GOLDSTEIN(USA) 15-10 in the DE32.
He faced South Korea’s LEE Kwang Hyuan in the DE16. With both fencers of
similar standard and ability, 26th seed against 23rd seed.
This was always going to be an equally tough bout for both fencers. In the end
it was LEE going through to the top 8, winning 15-7 and KOPER placing 13th.
Hamish’s last bout was going to
be tough against Gabor NEMETH (HUN). It was not the victory ies that was at
stake but hits, the precious hits for and against that determine final placing.
The hits for and against that would determine who promotes and who does not.
Like KOPER and SAFIN, Gabor NEMETH was on a mission and also put his pedal to
the metal notching up for himself a 5-1 victory. For Gabor the victory resulted
in a DE seeding form the event of 14th, but is was 46th
seed Carlos LLAVADOR (Spain) who put the spoke in NEMETH’s wheels, defeating
Gabor 15-8 in the DE 32. NEMETH’s final placing 23rd.
In the final analysis Hamish
CHAN’s final placing was 65th out of 84 fencers. Of those
eliminated, Hamish was just 3 places off promotion in to the DE, representing 3
points over the six bouts, just 2 points given and one hit less received. At
the top level the margins are small. This was a fine effort by Hamish for a
first time World Cadet Championship experience.
2009 Cadet Men’s Foil:
Medalists and Finalists
1st NISTA, Lorenzo
(ITA)
2nd LUPERI, Edoardo (ITA)
3rd SANITA, Andre (GER)
3rd MASSIALAS,
Alexander (USA)
5th GAROZZO, Daniele
(ITA)
6th LEE, Kwang Hyun
(KOR)
7th KONTOCHRISTOPOULOS,
Nikolao (GRE)
8th KWAK, Seung Yong
(KOR)
Junior Men’s Epee:
William Bishop from Fencing
Central’s Toa Rangatira Fencers in Wellington and Chris Bell of Fencing
Mid-South’s The Fencing Institute in Christchurch lined up for the Junior Men’s
epee first round, both in pools of seven. All pools on paper were much the same
but, as is normal, possessed internal qualities based on the mix of fencers
that made them slightly different to each other.
William Bishop:
He came to the World Junior
Championships with a recent bronze medal from the Commonwealth Junior Fencing
Championships in January. Of the two New Zealand fencers on piste, Bishop had
drawn, arguably the easier pool thanks to a World Cup ranking from his Montreal
World Cup top 32 finish (31st place). However, the level of the
fencers was close to each other, making this both an “easier pool” in one sense
and also a pool of potential and opportunity, favouring the confident and
opportunist. It would be pool with no room for hesitation or self-doubt. Both
would be severely punished and all errors would be capitalised on. Anton GLEBKO
(Russia) began the event with a World Junior Ranking 10th from 4
starts, with a top 64th finish and two silver medals from junior FIE
circuit events, so a clear medal contender from the famous Russian stables.
Mohammad KHALEEL (Jordan) and JUNG Sung Kug (South Korea) were the unranked fencers.
Ayman ALAA EL DIN FAYZ (Egypt) came with experience, a top 32 and top 16
placing in the current 2008-2009 season. Richard GRUNHAUSER (Brazil), perhaps a dark horse, with one top 8 finish in 2008-2009 and a junior world cup
finalist from last season, including a 7th place in last season’s
Pan-American Junior Championships. The pool was completed by Vakil NASIBOV (Azerbaijan), one top 16 finish in his only Junior Circuit event for the 2008-2009 season.
First bout against Anton GLEBKO
(RUS) was dominated by the Russian, who clearly wanted to ensure his progress
so a 2-5 loss was not altogether unexpected. What would be unexpected were the
defeats inflicted on GLEBKO later by GRUNHAUSER and JUNG, showing he was not
invincible.
Bishop’s second bout was against
Mohammad KHALEEL (JOR), another 2-5 loss from the unranked Jordanian, who was “hot”
and would go on to top the pool with six victories and enter the DE seeded 7th,
only then to be taken out in the DE64 by the 58th seeded Dutch
fencer Matthijs DE VRIES by the closest of margins 14-15.
The third bout was against JUNG
Sung Kug (KOR). From the perspective of ensuring promotion and the best possible
final placing beating all the fencers that you have to by the best score margin
(for indicators) is essential. This bout was in this category. JUNG Sung Kug
had exactly that approach taking a lead. William did not have the answers and was
never able to real the lead back in, extending the 2-5 loosing streak to 3 in a
row.
William’s fourth bout against the
competent Ayman ALAA EL DIN FAYZ (EGY) on paper was equally as winnable for
William as JUNG. Howver, the pattern repeated with a fourth straight 2-5
defeat.
William must have finally got has
dander up at last, because in his fifth bout against Richard GRUNHAUSER (BRA)
he really screwed himself into the piste with determination, reduced his errors,
limiting the Braslian’s opportunities and with the clock ticking down the
seconds William held strong to took his first victory in the lowest scoring
bout of the pool 3-2. At last the pattern was broken.
The last bout against Vakil
NASIBOV (AZE) was now critical, not just the victory required but also good
score for indicators. NASIBOV was already on two victories with reasonable
indicators so the pressures between the two were different, Vakil fighting for
the best possible final placing and indicators, and William under the greater
pressure of fighting for the victory and indicators. William took the lead and
then edged out determined to cross the finish line for a 5-3 victory and the
chance of promotion.
In the final analysis
William placed 107th, out of 139 fencers, missing out on promotion
to the DE by the smallest of margins, one hit. International fencing in this regard
is cruel and unforgiving. From the pool only two fencers promoted through to
beyond the DE64 Mohammed KHALEEL (JOR) placed 36th and Anton GLEBKO
went all the way, only loosing the semi-final to win bronze.
Chris Bell:
Our current Junior Men’s Epee
Champion was on just his second international outing as an epee fencer. His
previous performance was 6th at the Australian Olympic Youth
festival. Chris missed the Commonwealth Junior Championships Epee event due to
a programme conflict with his other event the foil. However, Chris did provide
great support in the Epee teams event at the Penang Junior Commonwealths, so
this event is his first FIE event. The difference in this pool was that
fencers were from a greater range of performances especially in the senior
events. In Chris Bell’s pool was David ZUPANCIC (Slovakia) who came with a
world ranking of 72 from a top 64 and a top 32 world cup events. Mohammad Hadi MASHHADBAN
(Iran), an unranked Junior but with a 244th Senior ranking from his
20th place at the Kish Island A Grade. I-Jie JOSHUA KOH (Malaysia) is well known to our Junior fencers because he took the Men’s Epee Gold at the
Commonwealth Junior Championships, a very talented fencer starting with a Junior
world ranking of 123 which does not reflect his true talent. Alexander LAHTINEN
(Finland) came in ranked as a junior at 374, with no points from this season’s
junior events but in seniors is ranked 262 with a recent top 32 finish at
Tallin, clearly experienced and potentially a tough competitor. Pau ROSELLO
(Spain) World Junior ranking of 18th clearly comes recommended, 3rd
last year, and this season he missed out on ranking points at only one circuit
event making 2 finals, a top 16, 2 top 32’s and 1 top 64. UEHARA Koshiro
(Japan) came ranked 172nd, having earned points at 4 out of 5 junior
circuit starts; 1 DE32 finish and 3 64’s. Koshiro is clearly a fencer who knows
what to do at this level, with ability, difficult to get past but unlikely to
progress as far as the finals, so the first round should not be a problem for
him.
Chris Bell’s first bout was David
ZUPANCIC (SLO), who clearly knew what he had to do, was very ready to pick up
as many points as possible and make few errors. In their first bout, the sign
of fencer well warmed up and ready. ZUPANCIC took the lead and never
relinquished it, only giving away one hit for a 5-1 victory over Chris. This
bout would possibly come back to haunt Chris later.
The second bout against Mohammad
Hadi MASHHADBAN (IRI) was different. After ZUPANCIC’s wake up call Chris came
out determined, but still perhaps not cautious enough, taking a victory 5-4
from te fencer who would eventually not win any bouts in this first round. As
with the bout against ZUPANCIC’s the final score line would come back to haunt
him later.
The third bout against I-Jie
JOSHUA KOH (MAS) was a tough bout psychologically, knowing the quality of the
fencer. Chris was able to put aside any pre-conceptions fenced one on one as
equals. Level pegging the score incremented up but it was Chris who prevailed
scoring the last hit to take the victory 5-4, a tough but critical bout.
Bell’s fourth bout was Alexander
LAHTINEN (FIN) was always going to be difficult given their relative rankings,
however as always it is the rule of hits for and against, the indicators that
is critical, not just victories. LAHTINEN understanding that made sure and
plucked a sure victory, but Chris was unable to find any answer, taking a 1-5
defeat. Once again with a score line that could come back to haunt him
The fifth bout was against Pau
ROSELLO (ESP), another tough bout. Pau showing his experienced went to work
business like, taking every opportunity that presented itself, giving little
away. Again Chris had little answer and took his third 1-5 defeat. Yet once
again that score line would come back to haunt him.
Chris Bell’s sixth and last bout
was against UEHARA Koshiro (JPN). With just two victories and not the best
indicators nothing was certain for Chris. Koshiro had three victories and was
determined to improve his position, as is the fundamental requirement of
fencing first rounds, victories are good, but indicators, hits for and against
are critical. Chris approached this bout with extreme caution, reducing his
error rate and as time expired with the score at just 2-1 for UEHARA, Chris
picked up his third defeat with only one hit scored.
In the final analysis Chris Bell’s final placing was 107th, out of 139 fencers, exactly the same as William
Bishop with exactly the same indicators and missing out on promotion to the DE
by that smallest of possible margins, one hit, and room for reflection.
2009 Junior Men’s Epee: Medalists
and Finalists
1st ADAMOV, Anton
(RUS)
2nd HEREY, Anatoliy
(UKR)
3rd GLEBKO, Anton
(RUS)
3rd MARCHAL, Virgile
(FRA)
5th SEIDL, Julian
(CZE)
6th BOYADZHIEV,
Kristian (BUL)
7th LAHTINEN, Alexander
(FIN)
8th POKORNY, Richard
(CZE)
Junior Men’s Foil:
Hamish Chan and Chris Bell were both on the piste in standard pools of seven. Of the 114 competitors Hamish was
one of just 27 young competitors who were outside the Junior category, a Cadet.
While for Chris this is his last season as a Junior..
Hamish Chan:
His first round pool of seven had
five ranked fencers and two, including Hamish who were unranked. Ioan MOISA
(Roumania) a competitor at the 2008 Junior Championships placed 79th
and had a 79th place in Budapest in January, clearly a fencer with the skills
to promote from the first round but not a potential medalist this year. Alaa El
Din EL SAYED (Egypt) a clear medalist hopeful, with a current senior world
ranking of 32 and Junior ranking of 5th, he already has a bronze
medal from 2008 World Junior Champs. Kristian FITADON (Bulgaria) had no previous ranking. David GOMEZ (Mexico) was also a final year cadet fencer
with with a senior world ranking of 106th and Junior ranking of 12th
from a 2nd place finish in 2009 and last year placed 18th
at the World Juniors, no doubt with dreams of doing well. Orlando SALAZAR (Spain) started ranked 62 in Juniors with points from one final and and a last 16 from 6
starts, another hopeful, but clearly a fencer who is either hot or maybe not.
Viktor WOZNIAK (Austria) starts with a Junior ranking of 152 from two last 64
and one last 32 from five Junior World Cup starts, so a fencer who knows how to
get through the first stages of competition.
Hamish Chan began his first bout,
confronting Ioan MOISA (ROU) and started well, scoring good points and taking
his opportunities, but MOISA’s experience was sufficient to make the difference
and MOISA took the victory 5-3.
The second bout against Alaa El
Din EL SAYED (EGY) was always going to be tough, and to the credit of Hamish he
never gave up, scoring one point against a very good international fencer who
took the victory from Hamish 5-1.
Chan’s third bout was Kristian
FITADON bout (BUL), and Hamish took the bout to the Bulgarian, winning a good
victory 5-3
The fourth bout against David
GOMEZ (MEX), now 1 bout up 2 down, Hamish took his chances, showing that he
could find a way through, scoring two points. GOMEZ, a fellow last year Cadet was
too much, the skills and experience GOMEZ took the victory 5-2.
Hamish Chan’s fifth bout was
Orlando SALAZAR (ESP), the bout was now shaping up with SALAZAR already 4 up
and just one down to the pool’s undefeated fencer from Egypt Alaa El Din EL
SAYED. Attitude would potentially play a role in the final outcome and SALAZAR showed
a professional side, he was mercenary, determined to take the opportunity ago
maximise the opportunity to improve his indicators hits for, hits against.
SALAZAR was relentless and in spite of Hamish working hard SALAZAR achieved his
objective a 5-0 victory.
Chan’s sixth and final bout was
against Viktor WOZNIAK (AUT), was in a weak position being on just 2 victories
and 3 defeats and desperate to improve his position. WOZNIAK had already lost a
bout he probably should not have, 5-3 to Ioan MOISA (ROU) and would have been
out to ensure he did not make any of those mistakes again. WOZNIAK also
unrelentingly put the hammer down taking the victory 5-0.
In the final analysis the
Juniors was not Hamish’s event. Not this year because he is a final year Cadet.
It will be next year when he moves up to first year Junior. Hamish placed 95th
out of 114 fencers, 11 spots below the cut off for the Direct Elimination
and 38 places from the middle of the field. It will have been an experience, to
see and feel how the junior fencers compete at the top level. Hamish clearly
was able to take points and find his way through even the best fencer in the
pool. So, as for everyone, the work for the future if this level of fencing
appeals, is to continue developing, on the steepest possible learning curve, so
as to be able to bring to the bouts the ability to repeat the appropriate skill
and attitude hit by hit through out the competition. Well done Hamish.
Chris Bell:
The previous day he had fenced in
the individual epee and discovered how unforgiving indicators are at this level
of event. He learned the very hard way that everything rides on hits for and
against. The small details do matter very much. In spite of not being 100%
fresh, Chris was 100% determined. His pool was a standard seven with Maciej
WLOSEK (Poland) who started with a World Junior ranking of 52 with points from
a de64, two de32 a de16 and a sixth place final in London. All from six starts
in junior world cup circuit events this season. As a first year junior, Maciej
is fencer with ambition to go places as demonstrated in his first outing in
senior competition he made the de64 at Bonn. Another fencer with ambition but
no previous international experience is KIM Min Kyu (South Korea). For KIM, no
previous international history is not a handicap, the Koreans teach their
fencers well and do not select them for their teams unless they are ready, so a
dark horse. Another potential dark horse is Miljan KOVACEVIC (Serbia), ranked 345 in Juniors and did not make better than 75 from two starts in Junior
World Cup events. So a fencer not to be taken lightly and a potential “must
beat” to get through to the DE. Artsiom RAMKOU (Bulgaria) has a junior ranking
of 155th from a 59th place at last years Junior Champs
and a 50th place at Budapest, so clearly has not developed much and
probably remains skillful at difficult but not a fencer who progresses much
through the event so would also be a fencer in the category “must beat” to get
out of this first round. AWAJI Suguru (Japan) is the 2008 junior title holder
so requires little else to describe his ability and motivation. Mats STIJLAART
(Netherlands) starts with a junior world ranking of 60th with points
from one de64 and five de32 from 8 starts. He was 27th at last years
Junior World Champs, so a fencer with ability and probably a lot or ambition
but not yet able to break through into the last 16. This would be tough but someone
with chinks in their armour, so points could be taken off them even if victory
was not possible.
Chris was on the piste first with
Maciej WLOSEK (POL) and determination was the name of the game. In spite of
WLOSEK ability, Chris remained strong, level pegging points through to 4-4, but
is was Maciej WLOSEK ho took the last point and victory. In spite of the loss
it would be good for indicators, and on later reflection perhaps consideration
of how close the victory was will provide some further food for thought on the
value and importance of fencing hit by hit.
Chris Bell’s second bout was
against KIM Min Kyu (KOR) who was the unfortunate fencer to have to start the
day against the current title holder AWAJI Suguru and had lost 0-5, but KIM was
not going to let that put him off, clearly considering Chris as the “must beat
guy” and he wen for it. Chris had some responses taking 2 points, but KIM was
too quick and accurate and took the victory from Chris 2-5.
The third bout Miljan KOVACEVIC (Serbia) and Chris was now 2 down and in need of victories. Chris put the pressure on and
found his way through, making a mistake or three on the way. Chris stretched
the lead and then took the victory 5-3. Mission on, beating the fencers you
have to, all the time, every time, is important.
In to the fourth bout Chris was
now one up and two down and still in need of victories and good indictors.
Artsiom RAMKOU (BUL) faced Chris across the piste and Chris unleashed,
remaining well focused and intent on hitting without being hit. Chris inched
his way towards the victory, giving up just 2 points in the process and scored
the last point to seal the deal a to make it 5-2 victory.
Going into the fifth bout against
AWAJI Suguru (JPN), the probable outcome was not in doubt, however the
opportunity to improve your situation never leaves. Indicators rule, hits for,
hits against. Chris stayed focused and gave little away and took every
opportunity possible to find away through and he did, just once, before AWAJI shut down the bout with a victory 5-1.
Chris Bell’s last bout was
against Mats STIJLAART (NED) and like AWAJI Suguru, Mats was not going to give
anything way, victory is not enough, the best possible victory was the goal.
Chris certainly had another game on. An equally tough and demanding bout.
Neither fencer giving anything away unnecessarily, however, STIJLAART pegged on
hit by relentless hit while Chris struggled to find a way through and finally
made one point and like AWAJI Suguru Mats STIJLAART was able to shut the bout
down with a 5-1 voctory.
In the final analysis of
the pool Chris did well. 82nd out of 114 fencers. Chris promoted from the first
round as 82nd seed from 84 fencers making the incomplete de tableau.
Chris won the bouts he had to, he took points of people when he could, he worked
on the indicators hits for, hits against. We could consider the outcome of the
bout with Maciej WLOSEK (POL) could have been different but that is for a
future discussion. Over all, well done.
In the direct elimination Chris Bell fenced 47th seed Gerek MEINHARDT (USA). The bout was quick, very quick. In
fact it took just 99 seconds exactly. It took one second less than 100 seconds
to score 21 points. The final score was 15-6 for MEINHARDT who was hot, much
hotter than his 47th seeding indicated. He went on to beat the 18th
seed Mats STIJLAART (NED) 15-5, making Chris Bell’s effort quite respectable.
50th seed LI CHEN (CHN) had beaten 15th seed Marcus
MEPSTEAD (GBR) in a grueling 14-10 bout went to immediately fence MEINHARDT.
MEINHARDT beat LI CHEN 15-11. MEINHARDT had now progressed through to the last
16 and faced 2nd seed Jean-Paul TONY HELISSEY (FRA). The bout
progressed cautiously and once again MEINHARDT won 15-11. Now in the semi final
MEINHARDT faced 51st seed Edward JEFFERIES (GBR) and it was game on.
A very close struggle but JEFFERIES succeeded in wrestling the victory 15-13.
2009 Junior Men’s Foil: Medalists
and Finalists
1st LARI, Tommaso
(ITA)
2nd JEFFERIES, Edward
(GBR)
3rd MEINHARDT, Gerek (USA)
3rd FOCONI, Alessio, (ITA)
5th SHI, Jialuo (CHN)
6th FAUSSER, Paul
(FRA)
7th BRAUN, Marius (GER)
8th LEE, Seung Woong
(KOR)
Men’s Epee Team: New
Zealand vs Costa Rico
New Zealand was ranked 31 out of
34 teams and drew Costa Rico (34 seed) to fence off for a place in the DE 32.
The team comprising our confirmed epeeist, William Bishop, a yet to decide but
very useful epeeist Chris Bell and a helpful give anything a go foilist Hamish
Chan. Clearly both teams are the bottom of the rankings so potentially a close
match. Coata Rico won the toss and chose “top”, ir thefencers taking 1-3,
leaving New Zealand on the “bottom” 4-6.
At the end of the first third, New Zealand had taken a commanding 13-3 lead. Leaving Costa Rica in the unenviable position
of now having to play catch up and all the more difficult because the bout order
favours NZ in the second third, putting 2 strong New Zealand fencers against
Costa Rico’s weaker fencers.
Inspite of the Costa Rican determination
and push the hits were piled on but New Zealand was still able to edge a little
further ahead to exend there lead with the score 30-16 going into the last third
and the run for home.
In that final home run to victory
New Zealand put on a further 15 hits at the expense of just 4 hits. Victory to New Zealand 45-20.
‘
Men’s Epee Team: New Zealand vs Ukraine:
New Zealand now went into the
de32 against the second seed, Ukraine. Ukraine won the toss and predictably
chose “top” 1-3 and New Zealand were left with the “bottom” 4-6. Having considered
all their options Ukraine considered there was little risk and chose to put their
best fencer, Anatoliy HEREY, in as reserve. In the overall scheme, this helps
to ensure that all fencers get to fence and if medals are to be won, everyone
gets one.
The match started well for New Zealand with Chris Bell taking New Zealand out to a 5-3 lead. William Bishop played his role
well nailing a 5-2 to take the score to a commanding 10-5 lead. At this point
the Ukrainians reached for their panic button and punched it very hard. They
immediately called for substitution to bring their reserve Anatoliy HEREY in on
the fourth bout.
Going into the fourth bout New Zealand still maintained the lead but the Ukrainian heart rate and work rate had
increased and the lead was narrowed to just one hit 15-14. Anatoliy HEREY
recovered the lead for Ukraine against Bell taking the score to17-20 and then Yaroslav
PONOMARENKO redeemed his failings in the first bout against Chris by managing
to extend the Ukraine lead a further 3 points against Hamish Chan. William
Bishop was able to peg back the Ukrainian lead by one point.
Going into the last third and the
run home Ukraine led by six points 30-24. New Zealand having shown the temerity
to rattle their cage at the beginning, Ukraine was giving nothing away. The Ukrainians
remained focused, inching ahead at about 2 hits for 1, towards victory. Of note
in the Ukrainian home run was Hamish Chan, who expected to fence their weakest
fencer but had ended up against their strongest, the reserve. Hamish fenced
smart, giving away only two hits and scoring one, allowing time to wind down
and not taking risks in order to provide Chris and William the opportunity to
make an impact. Unfortunately there were no further opportunities to capitalise
on. The Ukrainian cage had been rattled once and that was all they were going
to allow. Ukraine took the victory 45-31.
Having had fun with New Zealand, Ukraine went on to fence Great Britain, beating them 45-22, so a feather in New Zealand’s cap. 15th seed Great Britain had beaten 18th seed Kazakhstan by the closest of margins 45-44, which makes one wonder as to the actual
difference between teams, which may actually be quite small in the 16-32
positions.
In the final analysis the loss
was not unexpected. However, to force the Ukrainian hand to make the substitution
immediately after their third bout was stunning and all credit to all the team
for a great effort. Of particular note regarding the Ukrainian victories was
their ability to maximise the hits being scored against the opposition’s weakest
fencers and to minimize the number of hits being scored by the opposition’s strongest
fencers. So, all credit goes to our young Epee team for their performance, well
done.
Men’s Epee Team Medalists:
1st ITALY
2nd UKRAINE
3rd HUNGARY
Men’s Foil Team:
The New Zealand Men’s Foil Team
comprised Chris Bell, Hamish Chan, and Williiam Bishop. After the individual
event the team was ranked 22nd out of 23 teams entered. This was
based on the team fencers results and the foil team had a fencer who had not
competed in the individual event, William Bishop, a “ring-in” to make up
numbers.
The first round of the incomplete
de32 saw New Zealand draw eleventh seed Denmark. From the go a tough team. But
no matter, New Zealand won the toss and elected for the “top” 1-3 leaving Denmark with the “bottom” 4-6, so far so good.
Then the score sheets come out.
The first thing, immediately noticeable to discerning team fencers is the New
Zealand team order is opposite, with the strongest fencer finishing first and
the weakest foil fencer last … oops! This is a mistake that cannot be changed
after the orders have been put in. So the game must go on like that.
Denmark rattled away to a good
start leading 15-3 after the first third. They never let the pressure off
keeping the foot on the throat. The score was 30-8 at the end of the second
third, going into the home run. New Zealand only managed a further 4 points
before succumbing to Denmark 45-12.
In the final analysis the outcome
was never in contention. Perhaps the margin may have been a little different if
the fencers had used the recommended best fencer finishes last principle, but
that is purely academic as the defeat was so convincing. Well done to Denmark for their fencing and well done to the team for their participation at the 2009
World Junior Fencing Championships.
Men’s Foil Team Medalists:
1st ITALY
2nd U.S.A.
3rd RUSSIA
Final acknowldgement:
Fencing New Zealand acknowledges the wonderful contribution that our International Federation has made in
ensuring that we were able to have our fencers participate in these championships
in the individual and teams events. We also thank the Australian Fencing Federation
for there assistance and support of our fencers at the Championships. We thank
our hosts, British Fencing, Northern Ireland Fencing, Belfast City Council, Belfast University and all the very kind sponsors of the Championships. We applaud and
salute you the fencers and participants, the referees, organisers, support
staff, all the volunteers and the citizens of Belfast who have gone the extra
mile to make these Championships so friendly.
The teams matches normally turn
around three important points, the beginning of the first, fourth and seventh
bouts. Strategies will depend for the first two on whether you are at the top
(fencers 1-3) or bottom (fencers 4-6). The accepted rational is that your best
fencer should finish last, so will have the last bout and your weakest should finish
first, the seventh bout.
Because of the order of bouts, it
is generally accepted that being “top” is better because in the first three
bouts two out of the three bouts should have your better fencers fencing weaker
fencers, thus easier to establish a lead prior to going into the second third.
