Medal haul for Thame duellists at County Championships

FENCERS from Thame Duellists Fencing Club were in action on Sunday, November 6, at the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire County Championships in Langley.

L-R-William Nethercleft, Hal-Seed, Isaac-Sallé, Katie Oliver and India George

Thame fielded four fencers including two who were competing for the first time, and all achieved success.

Competing were Hal Seed (12), Isaac Sallé (11), William Nethercleft (8) and Katie Oliver in the adults event. Seed and Sallé both have plenty of competition experience and it showed, with Hal winning the Under 14 boys event and Isaac picking up a bronze medal in the Under 12 Boys event. Katie Oliver, who only started fencing in September, entered the Women’s Championships. The senior and Under 18 events were grouped together this year at the group stage and Katie was faced with the daunting prospect of fencing a number of much more experienced opponents and was beaten in each of her bouts. However she managed to score hits against all of her opponents and managed to collect some silverware of her own, becoming champion by default as the only entrant in the Women’s event this year.

Thame’s youngest competitor this year, William Nethercleft, also fencing in his first competition, also managed to pull off an upset, winning a bronze medal. He won three out of his six bouts in the group stage of the competition and so was seeded in the middle of the draw for the knockout phase of the competition. Nevertheless he managed to reach the semi-final where he came up against an opponent who, at the top of the age range, was over a year older than him. He fenced bravely but couldn’t beat his opponent, the eventual winner of the Under 10s event.

Club coach James Kingston said: “I was really pleased with all our fencers. Even some friends of the club who train with us occasionally, Darcy Herring-Johnson and India George, who were competing in the girls’ Under 12 and Under 14 events, were successful. For me though the best moment of the day was William’s performance in his semi-final. He had to be brave against a bigger and stronger opponent; but, as well as that, he was able to change his tactics in the second half of the fight after we talked through what to do during the one-minute break between rounds. He started to move better and scored an additional hit almost straight away.

“It’s difficult to alter your style but to do that at his age and under pressure was fantastic. His teammates gave him lots of support too, which was great to see. He really earned his medal.”

Thame Duellists fencing club meets on Thursday evenings from 6.45 p.m. in term time at Thame Leisure Centre. For more information, contact club coach James Kingston on 07947 049511

SOURCE: Contributed