Sheffield bags second medal with the team in Plovdiv

Cadet Women’s Epee Team – European Championships 2017

Twenty countries lined up for the Cadet Women’s Team Epee event today in Plovdiv and Great Britain claimed the silver medal.

Jasmine Heaps, Avery Louis, Alexandra Powell and Laura Sheffield were the British team members and their ranking meant that they had a bye through the round of 32.  Heaps, Louis and Sheffield all played their part in the victory over Israel in the round of 16.  Sheffield took a one hit lead into the final leg and demolished her opponent 11-6 to claim Britain’s place in the quarterfinals.

Next up they faced the number one seeds, Romania.  Britain fielded the same line up and again Sheffield went into the anchor leg with a one hit lead.  A 9-3 leg meant that the team had two shots at a medal.  Their next opponents were Ukraine and Britain remained with their winning line up.  They led from the start but only just and for the third time in a row Sheffield went into the last bout with a one hit lead.  This time the match was decided by the clock and Sheffield saw the team over the line 39-35.

Their opponents in the final were Hungary and they broke away from Great Britain in leg seven.  Despite a brave 13-10 final leg in favour of Sheffield, the Hungarians won the match 45-35.  Italy beat Ukraine to secure the bronze medal.

Great Britain (Edwards, Holdsworth, Matricciani and Pocknell) narrowly missed out on another medal in the Cadet Men’s Team Sabre event as well today.  They lost to Romania in the bronze medal play-off to finish fourth.

Full team results.