Dickinson and Maxwell bring home the gold

It was a golden weekend for two British cadets as Matthew Dickinson and Caitlin Maxwell win in Ankara and Godollo, respectively. 

Cadet Men’s Epee – Ankara (Not a selection event)

Four British fencers competed in this event as Matthew Dickinson, Will East, Connor Head and James Russell formed part of the eighty-one strong field.  Dickinson (V6D0), East (V4D2), Head (V2D4) and Russell (V5D1) all comfortably navigated their way through the first round and each won their first two elimination fights.  With Dickinson, East and Head all in the same quarter they were destined to meet each other in the latter stages of the event.  East went on to beat Head 15-13 in the round of 16 and Dickinson defeated Gkogkos (GRE) 15-13 and Russell beat Ozolcer (TUR) 15-14.  Dickinson went on to beat East 15-12 to become one of the four automatic qualifiers for the quarterfinals.  The three other British fencers had a chance to join him their via the repechage.  Head beat Buyan (TUR) 15-13 but lost to Sola (CRO) 15-10 and East fell 15-11 to Puchacher (AUT).  Russell did make it through beating Cavus (TUR) 15-6.  In the quarterfinal Russell lost out 15-14 to eventual silver medallist, Thewanger (AUT) as Dickinson defeated Gkogkos (GRE) for the second time, 15-10.  A semi-final saw Dickinson over come Ali Ege Say (TUR) 15-10 before he completely dominated Emil Thewanger 15-5 to take the title in fine style.  Say was joined in the bronze medal spot by Asterios Tsokas (GRE).

GB individual placings:  Dickinson 1^st, Russell 7^th, East 12^th & Head 16^th.

Click here for full results.

Cadet Women’s Sabre – Godollo (Not a selection event)

There were four British fencers in action amongst a field of one hundred and ninety-four in Hungary. Jenna Bray (V2D4), Maia Fashokun (V3D3) and Caitlin Maxwell (V5D1) made it through the first round cut but Olivia Dunn (V0D6) did not.  Byes for Fashokun and Maxwell saw them through the round of 256 but Bray lost 15-10 to Antonio (ITA).  Fashokun was undone in the round of 128, falling 15-5 to Viale (ITA) as Maxwell progressed 15-10 over Kramer (GER).  She went on to beat Johnson (USA) 15-11, Koos (HUN) 15-13 and Berczy (HUN) 15-14 before losing 15-9 to Mikhailova (RUS).  No matter though as Maxwell progressed to the quarterfinal via the repechage, beating Peter (GER) 15-14.  Tight fights followed but Maxwell took the title, beating Czyzewski (USA) 15-14, Linder (USA) 15-10 and then Julika Funke (GER) 15-14.  Linder was joined in third place by Pusztai (HUN).

GB individual placings:  Maxwell 1^st, Fashokun 101^st, Bray 143^rd and Dunn 192^nd.

Click her for full results.

Cadet Men’s Sabre – Godollo (Not a selection event)

There was also a men’s event in Hungary at the weekend as seven fencers from Great Britain lined up in a massive field of two hundred and twenty-three.  After two rounds of poules only six made it through to the elimination stages with Jamie Craze abandoning after the first round.  In the round of 128 only James Edwards and Samuel Rooney made it through beating Svitich (RUS) 15-6 and Kumpanskiy (UKR) 15-8, respectively as Barnaby Halliwell, Thomas Hamilton, Lucas Hateley and Henry Talbot were knocked out.  Scisciolo (ITA) then beat Edwards 15-14 and Ferioli (ITA) knocked out Rooney 15-9 ending British interests.  Valdislav Pozdnyakov (RUS) beat his compatriot Arseniy Panteleev 15-11 to take the gold medal with Americans Daniel Solomon and Andrew Sun settling for the bronze medals.

GB individual placings:  Rooney 41^st, Edwards 61^st, Hamilton 65^th, Hateley 98^th, Halliwell 109^th, Talbot 112^th and Craze 169^th.

Click here for full results.

Junior Men’s Foil – Gyor (Not a selection event)

Just two British fencers took part in Gyor in a field of one hundred and ten.  Robert Williams was unable to progress through the poule stages only managing one victory from six bouts.  However, Stephen Brown made is through the first round winning two of his six fights.  He went on to beat Kiss (HUN) 15-8 before being knocked out the round of 64, 15-7 by Chastanet (FRA).  Maximillien Chastenet went on to take the gold medal, losing 15-11 to Daniel Dosa (HUN) in the final.  The bronze medals went to Axel Kiefer (USA) and Enguerand Roger (FRA).

GB individual placings:  Brown 61^st & Williams 88^th.

Click here for full results.

Junior Women’s Foil – Timisoara (Selection event)

Seven fencers from Great Britain took part in the event in Romania at the weekend – one of the British Fencing selection events.  Kate Beardmore (V2D4), Alice Campbell (V3D3), Jade Rowland (V2D3) and Katie Smith (V3D3) progressed through the first round but Isabella Dmochowska (V0D5), Emma Kurtis (V1D4) and Amber Moss (V1D4) did not.  Beardmore defeated Lovelace (USA) 15-4 and Campbell beat Damaschin (ROU) 15-11 in the round of 128 but Candescu (ROU) knocked out Rowland 15-10 and Hendrichova (CZE) beat Smith 15-7.  British interest ended in the round of 64 as Boldor (ROU) knocked out Beardmore 15-7 and Melnikova (RUS) took out Campbell 15-8.

Maria Melnikova went on to win the event beating Elisabetta Bianchin (ITA) 13-11 in a tight gold medal match.  Marie Ducesne (FRA) and Marta Martyanova (RUS) were awarded the bronze medals.

In the team event Beardmore, Rowland and Smith took on Ukraine in the round of 16, beating them 45-33.  They then lost 45-32 to Romania in the quarterfinals.  In the placings matches they beat Egypt 45-37 before losing 43-21 to the USA to finish in sixth place.

GB individual placings:  Campbell 60^th, Beardmore 63^rd, Smith 70^th, Rowland 77^th, Moss 90^th, Kurtis 93d and Dmochowska 105^th.

Next weekend there will be a cadet foil event in Manchester for men and women, a junior men’s epee event in Maalot and a junior women’s sabre event in Bangkok.