REN STARS WITH SOCHI SABRE SILVER
The British team competing in Sochi, Russia, 2-11 March, boasted twenty-four cadets and twenty-four juniors covering all twelve disciplines at the European Championships. In total, nearly 900 athletes from 28 countries took to the pistes at the Black Sea resort whilst much of Europe was gripped by the “Beast from the East” – a cold snap that threatened the arrival of some of the athletes, including our very own Akira Papadopolous and Mark Alvares-Peres who tried thier hardest to rearrange flights but it wasnt meant to be.
The event began with all of the cadet disciplines that were followed by the junior events.
Day 1 – 2 March
Cadet Individual Women’s Epee
Eighty fencers took part in this event including three from Great Britain. Avery Louis (V6D0), Taylor Foxwell Moss (V3D3) and Eleanor Taylor (V2D3) all progressed through the first round. In the round of 64 Louise defeated Poysti (FIN) 15-11 but she was the only one to progress as Bieleszova (CZE) overcame Taylor 15-8 and Janelli (POL) eliminated Foxwell Moss 15-5. Staszulonek (POL) ended British hopes in the event beating Louis 15-9.
Eszter Muhari of Hungary took the title beating teammate Kinga Dekany 15-9 in the final as Karolina Staszulonek and Sara Maria Kowalczyk (ITA) shared the bronze medal.
British placings: Louis 18th, Foxwell Moss 48th & Taylor 53rd.
Women’s Individual Epee Results
Cadet Individual Men’s Sabre
There were three British fencers in the field of fifty-five in this event. A brilliant start by Ian Ren (V6D0) saw him claim second seed and a bye through the round of 64. Julian Richards II (V4D2) also did well enough to qualify for the elimination stages and earn a bye through the first fight. Luke Haynes (V1D5) did not make the first round cut. In the round of 32, Urban (HUN) defeated Richards II 15-10 but Ren beat Marciano (ITA) 15-7 before going on to claim the silver medal with victories over Ailinca (ROU) 15-9, Gallo (ITA) 15-12 and Yuzhakov (RUS) 15-14. He lost out 15-9 in the final to Magamed Khalimbekov of Russia as Oleg Yuzhakov shared the bronze medal with Balazs Kaiser of Hungary.
Read the full report of Ren’s silver medal winning performance on here.
British placings: Ren 2nd, Richards II 23rd & Haynes 47th.
Men’s Individual Sabre Results
A video playlist of some of the action from day one is available here.
Day 2 – 3 March
Cadet Individual Men’s Epee
There were four British fencers in the field of one hundred in this event at the start of day two of the Championships. Benjamin Andrews (V5D1), Jacob Foulsham (V5D1) and Joshua Willcox (V4D2) all made it through the poule stages and earned byes through the incomplete round of 128. Steven MacPherson (V1D5) did not make the first round cut. Despite their strong starts none of the British fencers made it through the round of 64 as Andrews fell 15-10 to Brykner (CZE), Santiuste (ESP) beat Foulsham by the same score and Berkdold (AUT) defeated Willcox 15-13.
Italian, Davide Di Veroli won the European title beating Dmitriy Shvelidze of Russia 15-8 in the final as Alexander Biro of Austria and German, Paul Veltrup picked up the bronze medals.
British placings: Andrews 35th, Foulsham 37th, Willcox 47th & MacPherson 89th.
Cadet Individual Women’s Foil
The field of seventy-one in this event included four from Great Britain. Amy Home (V3D3) and Phoebe Newton-Hughes (V2D3) made it through the first round poules but Bronwen Granville (V1D4) and Lucy-Belle Williamson (V0D5) did not. In the round of 64 Malickova (CZE) saw off Home 15-10 as Vasile (ROU) defeated Newton-Hughes 15-9.
Russia’s Adelina Bikbulatova won the European title beating Italian Claudia Memoli 15-12 in the final as Italy’s Martina Favaretto and Russian, Elena Petrova shared the bronze medal position.
British placings: Home 36th, Newton-Hughes 41st=, Granville 56th= & Williamson 67th.
Women’s Individual Foil Results
A video playlist of some of the action from day two is available here.
Day 3 – 4 March
Cadet Individual Men’s Foil
There were four British entries in the field of seventy in this event. Cameron Evans (V4D2), Rafael Rhys Pollitt (V4D2) and William Lonsdale (V3D3) all progressed through the first round but Luca Plastow (V0D6) did not. Rhys Pollitt then came through the round of 64 by beating Pedro (POR) 15-9 but Lonsdale lost 15-8 to Barannikov (RUS) and Isaksson (SWE) defeated Evans 15-13. Rhys Pollitt then beat Eyupogly (TUR) 15-9 before losing 15-12 to Macchi (ITA) in the round of 16.
Filippo Macchi went on to win the European title, beating Jonas Winterberg-Poulsen of Denmark as Italian Alessio Di Tommaso shared the bronze medal position with Maciej Bem of Poland.
British placing: Rhys Pollitt 13th Evans 34th, Lonsdale 40th & Plastow 68th.
Cadet Individual Women’s Sabre
The field of fifty-six in this event included four from Great Britain. Erin Corcoran (V4D2), Ellen Robbins Wilkinson (V4D2) and Hannah O’Reilly (V3D3) all made the first round cut but Maia Fashokun (V1D5) did not. Corcoran benefited from a bye through the round of 64 as Robbins Wilkinson narrowly lost 15-14 to Bondar (UKR) and Kurth (GER) defeated O’Reilly 15-11. Corcoran then went out 15-5 to Buitenhuis (NED) in the round of 32.
Russian, Darya Drozd beat Liza Pusztai of Hungary to claim this title with Nisanur Erbil of Turkey taking bronze with Benedetta Taricco of Italy.
British placings: Corcoran 23rd, Robbins Wilkinson 33rd, O’Reilly 34th & Fashokun 47th.
Women’s Individual Sabre Results
A video playlist of some of the action from day three is available here.
Day 4 – 5 March
Cadet Team Women’s Epee
There were sixteen teams in this event including Great Britain (Taylor Foxwell Moss, Avery Louis and Eleanor Taylor with Keira Papadopoulos as reserve). They narrowly lost to Romania in the first round, 45-41 before losing by the same score to Sweden and then beating Belarus 45-42 and Finalnd 45-38 to finish thirteenth.
Hungary took the title beating Italy 45-43 in the final. Romania beat Israel 44-36 to secure the bronze medal.
Cadet Team Women’s Foil
The British team (Amy Home, Bronwen Granville and Phoebe Newton-Hughes with Lucy-Belle Williamson as reserve) lined up in a field of fifteen for this event. They lost out 42-30 to Latvia in the round of 16. In the placings matches they progressed through Denmark who withdrew, lost to Ukraine 45-27 and then beat Turkey 45-34 to finish eleventh.
Italy beat Russia 45-36 to secure the gold medal whilst Romania beat Latvia 45-35 to take the bronze medal.
Cadet Team Men’s Sabre
A field of thirteen in this event included Great Britain (Luke Haynes, Ian Ren and Julian Richards II with Mark Alvares-Peres as reserve). They beat Spain 45-38 in the first round before losing 45-26 to Russia. In the placing matches, they lost to Turkey 45-42 before beating Germany 45-38 to finish seventh.
Hungary beat Italy 45-40 to become the champions whilst Romania claimed the bronze medal by beating Russia 45-28.
A video playlist of some of the action from day four is available here.
Day 5 – March 6
Cadet Team Men’s Epee
A field of twenty-one included Great Britain (Benjamin Andrews, Jacob Foulsham and Joshua Willcox with Steven MacPherson as reserve). They beat Azerbaijan 45-31 in the round of 32 followed by Spain 45-41 before losing 45-42 to Ukraine. MacPherson came on in the placings matches for Foulsham but the team lost 45-36 to Poland and 45-43 to Israel to finish eighth.
Italy won the event beating Germany 45-22 in the final as Ukraine took bronze with a 45-26 victory over Austria.
Cadet Team Men’s Foil
Thirteen teams lined up for this event including Great Britain (Cameron Evans, William Lonsdale and Rafael Rhyss Pollitt with Luca Plastow as reserve). They beat Romania 45-31 in the round of 16 before losing to Russia 45-26 – in a match where Plastow replaced Lonsdale in the seventh leg. In the placings matches, where Plastow came on for Evans in the fourth leg, GBR lost 45-32 to Germany. They went on to beat the Netherlands 45-38 so finish seventh.
Russia took the title with a 45-39 victory over Italy in the final as Poland secured the bronze medal by beating Sweden 45-43 in the play-off.
Cadet Team Women’s Sabre
Great Britain (Maia Fashokun, Hannah O’Reilly and Ellen Robbins Wilkinson with Erin Corcoran in reserve) was part of the thirteen-strong field in the last Cadet event of the Championships. They lost 45-32 to Germany in the round of 16 and had a bye through the first placings match. Corcoran came in for O’Reilly as the British team went on to beat Belgium 45-44 before reverting to their original line up to beat Poland 45-37, finishing in ninth place.
Russia won the event, taking the European title with a 45-42 win against Hungary as Turkey confirmed the bronze medal by beating Italy 45-36.
A video playlist of some of the action from day five is available here.
The Championships continues tomorrow with the start of the Junior events.
Sign up to receive regular highlights from the exciting world of fencing - celebrating the best of our unique and inspiring community
