Fernwood Sword Club
Ed had a decent day at the (senior) Birmingham International Open yesterday, finishing 18th (ahead of a number of more highly ranked senior fencers) a in a really strong field of 117. James finished in a very respectable 48th place, again ahead of various more highly ranked senior fencers.
Ed was the youngest fencer in his poule of 6. He fenced very patiently, recording a 5-0 win against Leon Quelch of Salle Oxon and 5-1 wins against Matthew Cowley of Loughborough University and veteran Irishman Patrick Dempsey of Saxon in London. He fenced excellently to take 5-2 wins against Charlie Broughton of Salle Holyrood in Edinburgh and French left hander Michal Nerc of Leicester University. This put Ed into the DEs as 7th Seed.
James had a tricky poule of 7. He had confident 5-1 wins against cadets Dominic Sampson and Edward Christophers and a 5--0 win against Jared Mittelholzer from Hereford Fencing. He was mugged 4-5 by wily Scottish International veteran Nick Mort of Saxon and also lost to Alex Schlindwein of Cambridge University and 2012 Olympian Husayn Rosowsky. James was ranked 48th after the poule.
Ed had a bye in L128, while James fenced Oliver Nash of Sutton Coldfield, whom Ed beat in L8 at the Leicester Open recently. James also made no mistake, dispatching Nash in a fairly clinical 15-7 victory.
Ed then fenced Bomba Brown of Cyrano in Essex in L64. Brown is a fencer in the "awkward left hander" category His distance was excellent and Ed found himself attacking and being hit before being properly in range - and 1-7 down. Ed then changed tactics and (for the most part) flick hit Brown's shoulder 14 times for only 2 hits in reply, earning Ed a 15-9 win.
Meanwhile James faced David Standen of ZFW in London. He recently fenced for the GB senior squad in Bonn so this was always going to be a difficult fight. However, James took 9 points off him, so this was promising for the future.
In L32 Ed faced Ethan Ridsdale of Russell Swords, former GB junior and current Welsh senior international fencer. It was tough but winnable. It was pretty even, and fast and furious fencing, with Ed going into the first break two points in the lead. However, Ridsdale adapted his game and Ed took slightly too long to re-adapt his, with Ridsdale coming out the 15-12 winner.
Overall, a very good day, with some great fencing from the boys.
