Whitchurch Fencing Club

Whitchurch Shield 2015

Match Report:

Congratulations to Jack Cafaro (Llantwit Major) and Abigail Watkins (Malvern Hills Swords) on their victories in the second Whitchurch Shield.

Congratulations are also due to Cardiff Uni and Celtic Swords who dominated the medal positions, as well as the highest-placed beginner and highest-placed veteran prizes.

This year's competition was held at Wales' new fencing centre, Cardiff Academy of Fencing. Whitchurch Fencing Club would also like to thank the numerous people that gave their time to ensure that the competition was a success: Celyn Lewis, Steve Poyser, and Peter Russell (referees); Nigel Lewis and Simon Corcoran (armourers); and all those who promoted the competition in their clubs.

Whitchurch would also like to thank the Life-President of Welsh Fencing, David Mort, and his wife Yvonne, who were invited to attend the competition and presented the prizes to the winners.

Whitchurch would also like to thank our sponsors, Leon Paul and Sainsbury's, who both supported the competition by donating prizes.

Men's Epee

After the pools rounds, William Meredith-Davies (Cardiff) was seeded first, closely followed by Gareth Law (Celtic Swords), both of whom were unbeaten in the pools. Rupert Nute (Whitchurch) was seeded third, having only suffered only one defeat.

The direct elimination round (last 8) saw the first, second and third seeds knocked out to James Daly (Cardiff Uni), Jack Cafaro (Llantwit Major) and William White (Cardiff Uni) respectively. Only the fourth seed, Krystof Gibbon (Cardiff Uni) maintained his seeding into the semi-finals, where he saw off his Cardiff Uni clubmate James Daly (15-7). After a shaky start in the pools, Jack Cafaro stormed into the final beating William White 15-5.

In a tightly fought final, Jack gained an early lead on Krystof. While Krystof fought back valiantly, Jack maintained his lead to win the fight 14-9.

James Daly and William White, who had both achieved equal third place, fought for the highest placed beginner. It was a close match, but William just pipped James in a 14-15 victory.

Results
1st place: Jack Cafaro (Llantwit)
2nd place: Krystof Gibbon (Cardiff Uni)
Joint 3rd: William White (Cardiff Uni) and James Daly (Cardiff Uni)
Highest-placed beginner: William White (Cardiff Uni)
Highest-placed veteran: Gareth Law (Celtic Swords)

Women's Epee

After a close pools round, Abigail Watkins (Malvern Hills Swords) emerged as the first seed - just beating Catherine Bowd (Celtic Swords), the second seed, in their match by one hit. Bett Pugh (Cardiff Uni) secured her place as the third seed, with Julie MacNamara (Whitchurch) seeded fourth.

Both Abigail and Catherine maintained their seeding in the direct eliminations, seeing off Julie and Bett respectively in the semi-finals.

The final was closely fought, but Abigail finished the tournament unbeaten, winning by two hits (15-13).

For the highest-placed beginner award, the same situation in the women's competition occured as in the men's: equal third place was achieved by two beginners. Bett and Julie, therefore, fenced to decide the highest-placed beginner, with Bett finally getting the best of Julie.

Results
1st place: Abigail Watkins (Malvern Hills Swords)
2nd place: Catherine Bowd (Celtic Swords)
Joint 3rd: Julie Macnamara (Whitchurch) and Bett Pugh (Cardiff Uni)
Highest-placed beginner: Bett Pugh(Cardiff Uni)
Highest-placed veteran: Catherine Bowd (Celtic Swords)

Plate competition

Nine competitors took part in the plate competition, which was run as a pool unique. Gareth Law gained the victory and was unbeaten throughout. Rupert Nute (Whitchurch) came second, having been beaten only by Gareth. Third place was achieved by Abigail Watkins (Malvern Hills Swords).

Notable Whitchurch results:

Congratulations to the following Whitchurch fencers who took part in the competition:

Julie MacNamara was our highest-placed fencer, replicating her performance last year by achieving a bronze medal in the women's epee, and 8th place in the plate.
Rupert Nute: Achieved 7th place in the men's epee, and 2nd place in the plate.
Steve Down: Achieved 9th place in the men's epee, and 6th place in the plate.

About the Whitchurch Shield