Archer, Bailey, Rattan & Tofalides medal in Budapest

The British Junior Men’s Foil team (Archer, Rattan, Tofalides & Bailey(res)) took the bronze medal at the European Championships in some style earlier this week.

In the round of 16 their match against Israel was a close affair but Rattan put in a great stint in the third leg putting GB into the lead for the first time.  Tofalides closed out the match 45-32.  The quarterfinal match against Hungary was a tense affair where Britain trailed 38-36 going into the final bout.  Archer anchored the team this time and blasted his opponent 9-5 to take Britain to a 45-43 win.  In the semi-final the British team put in a brave performance against an Italian team boasting the individual gold and bronze medallists.  The Italians went on to win 45-33.

In the bronze medal match against Germany, Great Britain trailed by five hits for most of the match but a tactical change meant that Tofaildes anchored the team.  This proved to be an inspired move by coach Pierre Harper as Tofalides put in a performance of epic proportions.  The final leg started with the Germans 40-33 up but Tofalides delivered a spectacular display of fencing beating his opponent 12-4 meaning that Great Britain won the bronze medal 45-44.

Speaking after the win, Kristjan Archer, speaking for the team, said; “It was a fantastic team effort.  Pierre was great with the tactics.  Amol (Rattan) fenced well against the Israelis.  I was able to take us to victory against the Hungarians and Alex (Tofalides) showed no fear against the Germans.  Linda Strachan (my other coach) also gave her support via telephone conversations with Pat Aiyenuro, our Team Manager.”

Coach Harper added; “What a great achievement for the boys.  They never gave up, really supported each other and showed great team spirit and determination in their matches.  I am so proud to have worked with them.  It is also great that Alex and Kristjan have now won a medal at both the Cadet Europeans and the Junior Europeans.”

All results can be found here.