A new high
This weekend saw the Club gain its best ever result at the English Youth Championships - Arthur Eakin won a bronze medal in the U13 men's foil with an excellent day's fencing. Seeded 22nd at the start of the day from 65 fencers, Arthur put in a solid performance in the poule, losing to gold medallist David Sosnov of ZFW and 2-3 to Rui Zhao of Salle Paul, whilst dropping only 1 hit in total in victories against fencers from Huntingdonshire, Bath, Redditch and Abingdon.
This put Arthur as 19th seed for the DEs. His opponent in L64 abandoned, meaning his first match was in L32 against 14th seed, J Davis Dore of Cobham Fencing Club. Arthur fenced confidently to win 10-6 to take him into L16. He was the only fencer from outside of the London area in L16 and faced the very strong Khalam Contractor of Newham Swords - winner of the U12 category of the British Youth Championships last month. It was tough, but Arthur had a plan. He was 8-9 down but with great mental strength came through to win 10-9. His next opponent, in L8, was Sebastian Beardmore-Esteban of ZFW. Arthur had lost by 2 points in their previous encounter but this time victory was Arthur's with a 10-9 win. In the semi-final he almost pulled off a stunning victory against 2nd seed Samuelis Savickas of Allez Fencing but fell short by just 2 points in an 8-10 loss. A very well deserved bronze medal after a great day's fencing.
Club mate Ethan Dakin had a tougher time after his 2nd place last month in the U12 category of the British Youth Championships. He lost 2 matches in the poule and won 3, including a 5-2 victory over local rival Finlay Maclachlan of Radcliffe Sword Club. In his L64 match he went 3-9 down against Isaac Heathcoat-Amory of Sussex House in London, pulling the score back to 9-9 but losing the crucial 10th hit and finishing in 34th place.
Photos: The Podium (Arthur on the right); Arthur and coach Roderick Howlett; Arthur in his L16 match against Khalam Contractor.