External Results 2005-2006 - Autumn 2005

This page gives the results for fencers from Guildford Fencing Club for autumn, 2005.  Click here for the external results page for 2005-2006

For results from other years, click here.

Rankings now updated to 2006 -Click here

BUSA Finals

Phil Shepherd-Foster came 10th in the sabre. Meg Schofield came 15th in ladies foil and 5th in ladies epée. Alec Johnson was 17th in Men's Epée.

Hereford and Worcester Open - 3rd and 4th December

Men's Sabre - 4th December

Six Guildford entrants: Owen Gough, Richard Hall, Aaron Lewis, Steve Pope, Christopher Schofield and Phil Shepherd-Foster. There were 102 confirmed entrants with a NIFF by my calculation of 60. A much larger entry than usual, partly due to the problems at Leicester. The Competition dealt well with the large entry, quickly running the poule round in two waves and then sending out a complete tableau down to the L8 which meant the Competition ran quickly and smoothly with little time wasted between rounds

Poules All six Guildford fencers were drawn to fence in the second wave of poules. Both Christopher and Steve were in good form, both did well in the poule round winning all their fights. Christopher was seeded joint 6th and Steve joint 9th. Aaron was seeded 26th, Phil 66th, Richard 78th and Owen 82nd. Leaving Richard and Owen especially a lot to do to progress in the Competition. Phil had a harsh poule with one of the unranked fencers withdrawing, leaving him with only the one victory.

L128 - Five of the Guildford fencers were drawn to fence in the Upper Hall, leaving Richard to fence his L128 by himself downstairs. He was seeded 78th after the poules, then lost 15-9 to Mike Keenen in the L128 (the only person he'd beaten in the poule round.) Better luck next time Richard. Owen, too, fell at this hurdle but only after a close tussle against Steve Moore of Lazlos. Owen was leading for a large part of the fight but eventually lost 13 hits to 15. Owen fenced well and was unlucky to lose. Phil, however, beat Jack Boteler of Swash & Buckle 15 hits to 6 to join Chris, Steve and Aaron, who had all received byes, into the L64.

Photo: Jack and Phil's fight. Phil is on the right. Richard Cohen presiding.

L64 - Sadly we lost all of our remaining fencers bar Chris in this round. Chris beat Nick Charles of Wrekin Sword 15 hits to 4. Aaron went out in a close match with Andrew Aitkin of NLSC by 12 hits to 15. If Aaron had managed to beat Andrew he would have then faced Chris in the next round but it was not to be. Phil was next due to fence Julian Nelis of Hunt-Roeder who was seeded two in the Competition. Phil sadly was unable to repeat his storming success of the Welsh and Julian won by 15 hits to 8. Steve met Karl Morris of Seacourt and lost 13 hits to 15. Karl has been fencing both at Kingston and Guildford recently and perhaps this made a difference.

Photo: Andrew and Aaron's fight - Aaron on right. Niki and Owen cheering Aaron on.

L32 - Chris was drawn to fight Andrew Aitkin and won by 15 hits to 9.

Photo: Meg and Owen discuss tactics with Chris before his fight with Andrew.

L16 - Chris next met Simon Donald of NLSC. The fight was close up to the compulsory break at 8, with Simon leading 8 hits to 5 but Simon quickly pulled ahead in the second half and won by 15 hits to 7. Nevertheless, a splendid result which should give Chris, again by my calculation using Vil's calculator, 528 ranking points. Well Done, Chris.

The Competition was won by Neil Hutchinson of Swash and Buckle who beat Julian Nelis in the final.

Final Result: Chris 11th; Steve 33rd; Aaron 36th; Phil 59th; Richard 80th and Owen 83rd.

Women's Sabre - 3rd December

Two Guildford entrants: Tonya Cheatham and Niki Lewis. There were 59 confirmed entries.

Tonya was in great form and was seeded 18th. Niki was seeded 38th. Both their matches went with seeding and the final result was:

Tonya 20th and Niki 41st. I believe the NIFF was around 28, giving Tonya around 153 ranking points. Well Done, Tonya, another great result.

The Competition was won by Robynne Stenner of Lazlos who beat Christie Waddington, also of Lazlos in the final.

Men's Epée

Guildford had three entrants: Vilya Harvey, Andrew McNeil and Gareth Thomas (Tiger Swords). There were 129 entrants.

All fell in the L64. Final Results: Gareth 40th, Vilya 46th and Andrew 62nd.

The Competition was won by Tristan Lane of Sussex House who beat Chris Kelly of Haverstock in the final.

Women's Foil

Guildford had one entry: Meg Schofield. Meg was seed 44th and went out in her Direct Elimination by 13 hits to 15. Number of fencers: 62. Final Result: Meg 45th.

The Competition was won by Lois Chang of Bath Swords who beat Philippa Mullins of Cambridge in the final.

Leon Paul Junior Series - Whitgift Epée

Under 15 boys:  Gareth Thomas - Winner (Tiger Swords);  Conrad Cotton-Barrett - 5th (Woking);

Under 13 girls:  Rebecca Thomas - Winner (Tiger Swords); Sarah Eastaff - 11th.

Congratulations to Gareth and Rebecca.

London Open - 26th and 27th November

Wilkinson Sword - Men's Team Trophy

Twenty two teams took part. Guildford's team was Vilya Harvey, Tim Schofield and Andrew McNeil. Tiger Sword also entered a team: Neale and Gareth Thomas and Aaron Buzwell. Unfortunately, they had to withdraw due to an injury to Neale. Hope you get better soon, Neale.

Picture: Vilya and Tim watch on as Andrew (on right) fights in the Reading match.

In the preliminary poule, Guildford were drawn with Reading and One Two Six. Guildford fenced Reading first and held their own for the first three rounds before Reading started to pull ahead. Guildford lost by 29 hits to 45. Reading team: Steve, Dave, Phil and Al. Guildford then faced One Two Six and ran out worthy winners by 45 hits to 13. One Two Six's team: Arthur, Werner, Mark and Ian. The top eight teams were promoted to the top group and the next eight to the bottom group to a separate direct elimination for the 9th to 16th places. The other teams were eliminated. Guildford were seeded eighth and thus in the top group.

In the direct elimination quarter final, Guildford met Cardiff and lost by 32 hits to 45. The Cardiff team were Lee, Pearson and Taylor.

Final Result - Guildforth 8th.

Women's Team Challenge

Nine teams took part. Guildford's team was Julie and Meg Schofield and Rebecca Thomas.

Picture: Meg (on right) fights Chrissie Flounders of Haverstock A in the quarter final of the Challenge with Julie refereeing and Rebecca and Phil watching on.

In the poule round, Guildford faced Haverstock B and One Two Six. Haverstock's team were Sally Kemp, Katy Parrott and Linton. Guildford lost by 28 hits to 45. One Two Six was a strong team including Jo Maynard. Other team members,Georgina Cox and Esther Kutlmey. Guildford again lost by 28 hits to 45.

Guildford did well enough to reach the last 8 and were seeded seventh. They then met Haverstock A, the number 2 seeds. Chrissy, Leanine and Camille. Guildford lost 30 hits to 45.

Final Result - Guildforth 7th.

Miller Hallett Cup (Men's Epée)

141 fencers took part. Guildford fencers: Vilya Harvey, Andrew McNeil, Tim Schofield and Gareth Thomas (Tiger Swords).

Gareth and Andrew fencing for different clubs found themselves in the same poule. Gareth was the victor in their match, beating Andrew 5 - 2. Gareth won four of his 6 fights and was seeded 46th. Andrew won two out of six and was seeded 91st. (Picture: Gareth, on left, fighting Andrew.)

Tim did extremely well in the poules, winning all but one of his fights and coming top. He lost narrowly to Anton Pollard of LTFC by 3 hits to 4, the fight going to time. He was seeded 33th.

Vilya had a disastrous day losing all but one of his fights and was very pleased to make the cut, seeding 109th.

L128. Sadly Tim did not do well in his d/e match, losing to Andrew Pavaday of Haverstock, the number 96 seed. 8 hits to 15. A similar fate met both Vilya and Andrew. Vilya lost to Philippe Barbisiewicz of Reading, the number 20 seed, also by 8 hits to 15. Andrew lost to Gergo Harsanjui of BHSE, seeded 38th. Gareth, on the other hand, beat Charles Unwin of the Army, 15 hits to 8, to go into the L64.

L64. All Guildford interest finished here with Gareth losing to Tom Bennett of LTFC.

Final Placings: Gareth - 47th; Tim - 67th; Andrew 94th and Vilya 109th.

Milner Barry Cup (Ladies Epée)

Ninety eight entrants. Three Guildford fencers, Julie and Meg Schofield, and Rebecca Thomas (Tiger Swords)

Not a good day for Guildford with both Meg and Julie failing to make the cut. Rebecca was seeded 64th but lost her L128 fight by 14 hits to 15 to Donna Donnelly of Salle Gahaski.

Final Placings: Rebecca - 68th; Meg - 83rd and Julie 97th.

Southern Region Qualifier for the British Youth Championships, Epée and Sabre - 20th November

Congratulations to Conrad Cotton-Barrett who qualified for both events at the Souther Region qualifiers. Conrad came second in the U16 Epée and third in the U16 Sabre. Conrad to to Ben White (No. 3 Cadet) in the Epée and Sam Esser in the Sabre. Well done, Conrad.

Wimbledon Teams -

Report yet to be received.

Sir William Perkins Open - Epée - 20th November

Lorenzo ran a very enjoyable competition and was very amenable to fencers' requests for a change of format. The competition was run with two seeding poules instead of one, giving the fencers a full day of fencing. The field may have been small but the atmosphere was very friendly and the organisation good. The Guildford fencers involved would definitely recommend this Competition to epéeists next year.

Men's Epée

Guildford had four entrants in the Men's Epée: Vilya Harvey, Andrew McNeil, Tim Schofield and Gareth Thomas. Gareth was fencing for his father's Club, Tiger Swords.

In the first poule Andrew did tremendously well and was placed third in the rankings. Tim was placed ninth, Vilya 11th and Gareth 13th.

Gareth did much better in the second round and was finally seeded 5th; Tim moved up to 7th seed; Vilya 8th and Andrew slipped down to 9th.

L32. Gareth and Tim received a bye into the L16. Andrew won his fight against Christopher Tee and Vilya beat David Bental.

L16. Vilya and Andrew met in the L16 and Vilya was triumphant. Gareth went out to Ian Biggs of Woking but Tim went through by beating Tom Nicholls of Gravesham to move into the last 8. Garteth's presumed final position - 10th. Andrew presumed final position - 11th. Picture: Vilya fences Andrew for a place in the quarter-finals.

L8. Tim was beaten by Maxwell Rowe-Haynes of Apocalypse but Vilya met the number one seed Graham Miles and triumphed again to move into the semi-final. Tim's presumed final position - 7th.

Semi-Finals This really was Vilya's day, on very good form he won easily, going on to face Tim's earlier opponent, Maxwell in the Final.

Final Sadly Vilya's run ended here, with Maxwell being too strong. Vilya came away a very creditable second. Congratulations, Vil.

Women's Epée

Julie Schofield was Guildford's only entrant in the Women's Epée compeitition. Julie was very pleased with her performance despite coming last in a small field of 17. Although she only won one fight in the two seeding poules, she came very close to winning another and was delighted to get hits in many of her fights. She was placed 13th after the first round of poules but dropped to 16th placed after the second round. There was only one fight in the L32 and unfortunately Julie was involved in it. She sadly lost her direct elimination fight to Miranda Smith, a student at Sir William Perkins School, by the margin of 12 hits to 15. Miranda had previously beaten Julie 5-1 in the poule, so Julie was very pleased to get 12 hits in the direct elimination. Julie is still looking forward to her first direct elimination win and she hopes to return to the Sir William Perkins next year and do rather better.

The Competition was won by Ingrid Sallons of Egham who beat Nell Bond of Sir William Perkins School in the final. Nell had beaten Rachel Measures of Redhill and Reigate in the semi-final and Ingrid had beaten Christine Flounders of Haverstock.

There were a total of 75 fencers. The top 56 fencers should therefore get ranking points from the competition. NIFF around 39.

Final Placings: Steve - equal 11th; Chris - 27th; Phil - 47th; Owen - 49th; Antoine - 54th (all should receive ranking points). Richard - 62nd, sadly misses out, despite a very credtiable performance. Richard had beaten Tom Nicholls in the original seeding round so he was one of the many fencers who suffered from the re-running of the competition. Chris too had been set to be placed far higher after the first running of the pools. C'est la vie.

The women's sabre took place on the Sunday. This ran more smoothly than the other competitions but was still dogged by long delays between rounds. Picture Left - Tonya fencing Clare Monger of Kingston in the pool round. Tonya on left.

In the L64 Niki Lewis was ahead 8 points to 7 at the interval but lost narrowly 15 hits to 13 to Rebecca Adamson of Romiley. Tonya though defeated the number 20th seed. Laura Brough of Dundee University, 15 hits to 9 to go through to the L32. In the L32, Tonya was defeated by Margaret McWilliams of Truro by 15 hits to 10. Picture right - Tonya fencing Margaret, Tonya on the right.

The eventual winner was Robynne Stenner of Lazlo's Fencing who defeated Kira Roberts of Swash & Buckle.

There were a total of 52 fencers. The top 39 fencers should therefore get ranking points from the competition. The NIFF was approximately 59.

Final Placings: Tonya - 21st and Niki - 41st, sadly Niki is outside the ranking points.

Epée

Was run on the Sunday, the Men's Epée was seriously delayed as many entries had been lost in the system, including Tim's and Meg's. Tim's despite having had an acknowledgement of the entry and Meg's despite her cheque having already been cashed.

Men's In the pool rounds, Tim was on top form and won all but one of his fights, losing narrowly to Alain Barbasiewicz of Reading 4 hits to 5, he was placed 15th in the seedings. Vilya on the other hand won only one of his fights to be placed 127th. Gareth was 69th and Neale 92nd. There had been a mistake in the seedings so many fencers were facing a different opponent to the one expected. Tim was unlucky to meet Rupert Paines of LTFC in the L128, who he lost to 15 hits to 14. Vilya met a French fencer, Francois Bourmaud, from Cercle D'Escrime Gradign and lost 10 hits to 15. Gareth and Neale though progressed to the L64, Neale meeting Tim Buzwell in the L128, a very unlucky draw for Tim. In the L64 Gareth was beaten by Matthew Dodwell of LTFC 15 hits to 9, Neale however went on to the L32 where he was beaten 11 hits to 15 by James Taylor of Cardiff. The eventual winner was Johnnie Willis of Stockport who defeated Tony Perity of Salle Bones. Photos: Far left: Tim fencing in the pool round. Left: Vilya (on left) on the way to winning his fight in his pool.

There were a total of 157 fencers. The top 64 fencers will therefore get ranking points from the competition. The Niff was approximately 108.

Final Placings: Neale - 32nd; Gareth - 54th; Tim - 65th and Vilya - 126th. Very hard lines to Tim on missing out on ranking points from this Competition.

Women's. Congratulations to Rebecca who made the L64 and should therefore receive ranking points. Meg had a bye into the L64 and beat Emily Bottle 15 hits to 9 in the L64. In the L32 Meg met the number 4 seed, Lindsey Wheedon of Wingerworth, and won comfortably by 15 hits to 11. In the L16 Meg met Jo Beardsworth of Haverstock, who had defeated Jo Maynard of One Two Six in the L32. Meg lost by 9 hits to 15. Again the L16 only having finished by 7 p.m., no Guildford fencers were present to watch the finals. The Competition was won by Jo Hofmans-Clark of Salle Rose who defeated Rhiannon Lawrence of Plymouth.

There were 88 fencers. The top 64 fencers will therefore get ranking points from the competition. The NIFF was approximately 86.

Final Placings: Meg - 15th; Rebecca 56th.

Photo: Meg fencing in the pool round of the Women's Epée.

British National Under 17 and Under 20 Championships, 8th and 9th October, 2005

Cadet - U17 - Saturday, 8th October

Epée - Gareth Thomas - 20th; Conrad Cotton-Barratt - 27th. Rebecca Thomas - 24th

Foil - Gaurav Gupta - 49th

Junior - U20 - Sunday, 9th October

Photos: Owen Gough (on right) preparing to fight Tom Brenda in the pool rounds. Conrad Conrad-Barrett fighting James Melia of Apocalypse in the L32 of the Men's Epée (Conrad on right). Chris Schofield (on left) fencing Jacob Collaghan of Nottingham University (who finished 5th) in the L32 of the Men's Sabre and Gareth Thomas (on right) fencing in the L64 of the Men's Epée.

Chris beat Steven Rocks of Shetland in the L64 by 15-13 but lost to Jacob 15-8 in the L32. Conrad lost to James Melia 15 hits to 5 in the L32. Gareth lost 14-15 in the L64.

Epée - Conrad Cotton-Barratt - 29th; Gareth Thomas - 43rd; Andrew McNeil - 66th. Rebecca Thomas - 24th.

Sabre - Chris Schofield - 25th; Owen Gough - 55th.

Sussex Open - 1st and 2nd October, 2005

There is no sabre at the Sussex. Both Men's and Women's Epée were held on the Saturday with the Men's and Women's Foil on the Sunday. In the Men's Epée, Guldford had an interest in the following fencers: Daniel Brooks (University of Surrey), Josh Collins, Vilya Harvey, Alec Johnson (Oxford University), Tim Schofield, and Antoine Ubaghs. In the Women's Event, both Kirsty Macdonald and Julie Schofield fenced for Guildford.

Men's Epée. There were 83 entrants in the Men's Epée, a very impressive total for one of the smaller Open events. After the seeding pool round, both Alec and Vilya had done well enough to receive byes into the L64, seeding 27th and 32nd respectively.

The other Guildford fencers had to fight off in the incomplete L128. Unfortunately, Dan met Josh in the L128, insuring one Guildford fencer would be eliminated. Josh Collins was entering only his second Open and performed very well. He was seeded 71st and lost to Dan Brooks very respectably - 10 - 15. Josh finished 72nd. Antoine Ubaghs, who has recently been specialising in sabre, lost narrowly to Aaron Chen of Crawley 13 - 15. Antoine finished 71st. Tim met Michael Starr of Eastbourne in the L128 and came out a comfortable winner 15 - 5.

Photo: Josh Collins, on the right, fighting Sean Taylor of Wessex Baldes in the seeding pool.

In the L64. Alec Johnson defeated Werner Hub of One Two Six - 15 - 11, unfortunately he was the only Guildford fencer to go through to the L32. Vilya, as Number 32 seed came up against the 33rd seed, nearly always a hard fight between fencers of equal ability. Vilya met Fillipo Vincentello of the Unversity of Kent and lost 12- 15. Due to reversals, Vilya finished 40th. Dan had a very hard fight against Dudley Tredger of Crawley. He was defeated but with a highly respectable total of 12 hits to 15. Dan finished 58th. Tim was defeated by Alexander Chase of Haverstock 11 - 15. Tim finished 51st. Vilya, Tim and Dan all finished high enough to be assured of ranking points. Alec Johnson continued his successfsul season coming 26th, having been narrowly beaten by Alp Orge of LTFC in the L32 - 14-15. (See photo on right, Alec is on the left.) Alec came very close to scoring the winning hit but it was not to be. With good results at the Bristol and the Sussex, Alec should be rapidly heading up the rankings. The event was won by Alain Barbasievicz of Reading who beat Tristan Lane of Haverstock in the final.

Women's Epée. There were 42 ladies entered. This was Julie's only second Open and she felt she did well to win one of her fights in the pool, beating Jo Finiis of Poly 5-3. She was seeded 39th and faced Georgina Cox of One Two Six. Although only a novice herself, Georgina was just too strong for Julie, defeating her by 15 hits to 11. (Georgina went on to meet Kelly Bird in the L32 and was narrowly defeated 15-14 after time.) Julie finished 39th. Kirsty was seeded18th after winning three fights in her pool. She received a bye into the L32. She met Bronagh Keppler of Haverstock in the L32 and lost 15 hits to 9 and finished 19th. The event was won by Inga Smoldt of LTFC who defeated Katherine Ferris of Wessex Blades in the final.

Photos: Julie fencing Katherine Ferris in the Pool Round. (Julie to the right). Kirsty preparing to fight Ingrid Sallons of Egham, Kirsty on the left.)

Men's Foil. Guildford had three entrants in the Men's Foil in a field of 75 fencers. These were Gaurav Gupta, Richard Hall and Christopher Weeks. The star for Guildford was Gaurav Gupta who made the L32 in, I believe, his first Open. Very well done, Gaurav.

Photo: Gaurav on right fencing Charles Cooper of Salle Boston. (Many thanks to Jean B Li-Kam-Tin for allowing us to reproduce his photo.)

Chris enjoyed the competition but was disappointed with his performance, he won only one of his fight in his pool but believed he could have won another two. He lost his L64 fight 12 - 15.

Gaurav came 31st, Richard came 64th and Chris came 66th, both Richard and Chris making the L64, but sadly too far down to make the top 75%, however, Gaurav's L32 ensures him his first ranking points. The event was won by Marc Bengry of Sussex House who defeated Karim Bashir, also of Sussex House.

There were no Guildford fencers involved in the Ladies Foil which had a low entry of only 26 ladies. The event was won by Karine Pawel of Salle Paul who defeated Jo Maynard of One Two Six in the Final.

NVA Middlesex Unisex Epée Competition - 2nd October, 2005

Twenty one Veteran's took part in the Middlesex Competition, including six ladies (five more than the previous year). Tim and Julie Schofield both entered. Fenced in pools, with twoseeding rounds then a round of three ranked pools. The Schofields had varied fortunes, Tim found himself in the top pool fighting off for the top five places, Julie was in the third and lowest pool. Julie, to her disappointment, lost all her fights, coming closest to Linda Lawes who she lost to 4-5. Tim was very pleased to come fourth overall. Julie sadly was last. Andrew Brown won the competition, Vanessa Wilen,won the ladies trophy, Vanessa came a very creditable 9th overall. The event was extremely well organised by Hilary Arnold. Hopefully this event will continue to grow in numbers in coming years.

Manchester Cadet - 1st and 2nd October, 2005

Only results available. In the Boys Epée, Gareth came 12th and Conrad 24th. Rebecca was 25th in the Girl's Epée. Verity was 22nd in the Girl's Sabre.

Surrey Age Groups - 25th September, 2005

Scanty report on this as my correspondants spent most of the day refereeing, Guildford had a very good day with four winners: Alice, and Rebecca won gold in the epée; Verity won gold in the sabre and Gaurav won gold in the foil. Also in the epée, Conrad and Jenna won silver medals and Gareth a bronze. Well done to you all. Photos: Chris Howser presents the prizes to Alice and Rebecca.

Shropshire Open - 24th and 25th September, 2005

Chris Hider and Vilya Harvey took part in the Men's Foil on the Saturday. In the Men's Foil there were 70 entrants. This was Chris's first Open since his return from serious illness and Vilya, who has recently concentrated on epée had decided to enter the foil on the spur of the moment. Chris had a rocky comeback, not winning any fights in his pool, although some of the matches were reasonably close. Chris had to fence off for a place in the last 64 against Tom Gulliver of Oswestry Fencing Club. After falling behind in the first period, he rallied in the second and third periods to secure a victory. That left Chris as 64th seed so unfortunately his next match was against the Number 1 seed Sam Stockley (who went on to win the competition); Chriswas outgunned, scoring just one point. Chris finished 61st. Vilya had a great start in the pools, only dropping a single match in each of the two seeding rounds and was seeded18th. His opponent in the DEs was Ben Roberts. Vilya was disappointed with his performance, losing 15-7. Vilya finished 33rd. Not a bad result for an epéeist!

Thankfully the epee on the Sunday more than made up for Vilya's disappointment. Vilya fenced well and made the last 16, narrowly losing to Adair in the L8. Andrew McNeil also fenced on the Sunday and he was on very impressive form. His match in the last 16 was nothing short of incredible. His opponent was an obviously talented veteran, Ian Worthington, but Andy went bowling in with amazing speed and accuracy, and had an answer for anything that Ian tried in defence. Well Done Andrew. Andrew finished 8th and Vilya 15th. There were 67 entrants. Ranking points for them both.

In the Men's Sabre, Guildford had one fencer competing, Steve Pope. Steve, a previous winner of the event, was disappointed to lose to Joseph Brightman of Leicester in the semi finals. Noevertheless, well done on your third place, Steve. There were 36 entrants in the men's sabre.

Bristol Open - 17th and 18th September, 2005

The Bristol Open is probably the largest Open held in the United Kingdom with 770 entrants - 271 entrants in the three ladies competitions and 499 in the three men's competitions. The two foil events and the ladies sabre was held on the Saturday. No Guildford fencers were involved in the foil events but Tony Cheatham and Niki Lewis represented Guildford in the Ladies Sabre. Tonya was 19th in the seeding after the poules and Niki was 68th. Tonya was narrowly defeated in the L64 by Angela Bilardi of Boston. Tonya was eventually placed 35th. With a NIFF of over 100 I understand that this gives her over 200 ranking points. Well done, Tonya. Niki was sadly eliminated after the poules but she told me that she was very happy to have won one fight in her poule. Niki entered the plate and came joint third, narrowly losing 14-15 to the eventual winner of the plate, Maoliosa Donnely of Foyl. There were 78 entrants in the Ladies Sabre.

On Sunday, there were six fencers who fence at Guildford involved in the Men's Epée, the largest competition of all with a total of 201 entrants. Neale and Gareth Thomas, representing Tiger Swords; Alec Johnson, representing Oxford University; Conrad Cotton-Barret, representing Woking; and Tim Schofield and Andrew McNeil

representing Guildford. All fencers did well enough in the poules to be above the cut of 152 and to go into the incomplete L256. Here Tim Schofield (seeded 111th) and Conrad Cotton-Barrett were eliminated. Tim was doing well against his opponent, Alexander Chase of Haverstock until the first interval but Alexander then pulled back and won narrowly 15-14 to go into the L128, eventually finishing 63rd. Tim was placed 131st.

Picture on right: Tim Schofield (right) against Alexander Chase in his L128 direct elimination fight.

Gareth Thomas had done extremely well in his poule round and being placed 20th, he had a bye into the L128. He then had the misfortune to meet Howard West. Gareth was placed 71st which gives his lots of Cadet points, having finished in the top two thirds and through one round of the competition. Well done, Gareth. Andrew McNeil also fell in the L128, finishing 115th. The remaining two Guildford fencers both did extremely well, finishing in the L32. Alec Johnson finished 32nd and Neale Thomas 30th. Neale will admit to having a much easier draw than his son Gareth. Both Alec and Neale will, I understansd, receive around 500 ranking points for their efforts. Well Done. Picture above: Neale Thomas (on right) being watched by his wife, Anita.

In the Ladies Epée, Guildford had interest in two fencers. Meg Schofield, representing Guildford and Rebecca Thomas, representing Tiger Swords. Meg did brilliantly in her poule round, winning all her fights and being ranked as third seed. She had a bye into the L64. Unfortunately, her luck ran out in the afternoon and she was eliminted in the L64, being finally placed 33rd. Meg will receive ranking points. Rebecca went out in the L128 to Susan Hanney, a Veteran, after a very exciting fight - Rebecca lost 14-15. Rebecca was finally ranked 70th out of 111. A very good result for her first Open competition.

Picture left: Meg Schofield fighting in the poule round of the competition.

In the Men's Sabre, Guildford had 5 fencers: Aaraon Lewis, Antoine Ubaghs, Owen Gough, Phil Shepherd-Foster and Chris Schofield. All did brilliantly in the poules, with all except Aaron wiining four of their 6 fights, Aaron won three out of six. All being well placed to go into the L64, it was unfortunate that Owen drew Phil in the L128. Unfortunately, Antoine and Aaron also went out in the L128; Chris was behind through most of his L128 fight but fought back bravely to win 15-14. He then went out to Alex Erskine in the L64, losing 5-15. Phil also went out at this stage. Final placings: Chris 45th; Phil 63rd; Owen 66th, Antoine 67th and Aaron 70th. However, there were 128 fencers so the NIFF should be excellent, so good news for Chris and Phil who will both receive ranking points. Tough luck to the other three who all finished close to that elusive L64.

Picture below: Phil Shepherd-Foster, on right, fighting in the Men's Sabre at Bristol.

Report by Julie Schofield
Photos Copyright Tim and Julie Schofield

Hamlet Sabre Open and Essex Open - 3rd and 4th September, 2005

The first weekend of September is always a busy one, especially for sabuers. The Hamlet Sabre Open being held in Stratford-upon-Avon on the Saturday and the Essex Open Sabre in Colchester on the Sunday.

There were 127 fencers at the Hamlet for the men and 83 in the ladies, making the Hamlet one of the largest Opens for sabre. The men's competition was won by Alex O'Connell of Brentwood who beat Jon Salfield of Truro in the final. Competing on the Saturday for Guildford were: Steve Pope (33rd); Aaron Lewis (39th); Owen Gough (74th) and Antoine Ubaghs (95th). Guildford fencer, Daniel Brooks (fencing for the University of Surrey) was 111th. In the Ladies, Guildford had two fencers: Tonya Cheatham (48th) and Niki Lewis (64th). Louise Bond-Williams fencing for Shakespeare Swords defeated Christol Nicholl of LTFC in the ladies final.

At the Essex Open there was one Guildford fencer competing in the foil - Richard Hall. Richard came 120th out of 122 but Richard did better next day in the sabre. Three Guildford fencers were involved in the men's epée. Alec Johnson made the L64. coming 61st - Alec is in his last year of University at Oxford and currently is fencing for Oxford University. Andrew McNeil and Vilya Harvey were knocked out in the L128 - Andrew came 93rd and Vilya Harvey came 112th. There were 136 male epéeists and 74 ladies. In the ladies epée Meg Schofield and Kirsty Macdonald made the L64. Meg being defeated by Katie Dolan for a place in the L32. Meg was placed 37th and Kirsty 45th. Tristan Lane of Sussex House beat Johnnie Willis of Stockport in the men's final and Jo Maynard of One Two Six beat Corinna Lawrence of Plymouth in the ladies.

In the Sabre, there were only 32 men entered in the sabre - an indication of the comparative strength of the Hamlet (a Junior and Cadet nominated competition). Five fencers from Guildford competed. Especial congratulations to Aaron Lewis who came 7th, Aaron lost to the eventual winner Anthony Crutchett in the quarter-finals. Phil Shepherd-Foster was 20th; Richard Hall 22nd, Antoine Ubaghs 25th and Dan Brooks 28th. Anthony Crutchett beat his brother Alex (both of Brentwood) in the final. In the ladies competition there were only 16 fencers but especial congratulations to Tonya Cheatham for her 6th place. Meg Schofield was 10th and Niki Lewis 11th. Grace O'Connell of Brentwood beat Ros Hull of NLSC in the ladies final.

Commonwealth Veteran's 6th August, 2005 Official Site

Tim and Julie Schofield both participated in the individual Men and Women's Epée for the first time at the Commonwealth Veteran Championships held at the very posh venue of Fettes College in Edinburgh. The event was held over three days - Foil on the Friday, Epée on the Saturday and Sabre on the Sunday with the team events in the afternoons. The Men's Epée had the largest field of the whole competition with 41 fencers from Australia, Canada, England, the Isle of Man, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Ladies Epée was smaller with just 26 fencers from Australia, England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of South Africa, Scotland and Wales.

Despite a very long wait to start, the event ran very smoothly and was over in time for Tim and Julie to visit the Edinburgh Fringe in the afternoon, the street entertainment including a very memorable juggling act by an Australian of machetes, battles axes and other fearsome weapons.

Back on topic: there was a single seeding round followed by direct elimination. Tim did well in his poule, winning two fights and thereby being given a bye into the last 32. Tim then met Kyle Macdonald of New Zealand who beat Tim 10 hits to 7. Kyle then went on to lose to Ralph Johnson 10-7 in the final.

Julie met Susan Hanney in the l32. Susan was one of the two left-handers Julie met in the poule. Julie was pleased to improve on her 5-1 defeat in the poule - losing the d/e by 10 hits to 6. Susan went on to reach the quarter-finals, being placed 7th overall. Julie entered the plate which was run as a poule-unique of 7 fencers. She was happy to win her only fight of the day, by the narrow margin of 5-4, against Margaret Greenfield of South Africa. Margaret had been placed 17th in the Ladies Epée.

Diane Austin, who was made an honorary member of Guildford Fencing Club at the Club AGM in August, was also competing in the Ladies Epée. Diane finished 21st in the Ladies Epée.

An excellent dinner was arranged by the Organisers for all the veteran fencers at the Charlton Highland Hotel that evening, a very smart hotel close to Waverley Station. A two course meal of Carrot and Coriander Soup followed by Chicken stuffed with Haggis was enjoyed amongst very pleasant and convivial company. The meal was followed by the presentation of the medals and the drawing of the raffle. There were at least 10 bottles of whisky on offer but Tim and Julie had to be content with winning a BBQ tool set which they fortunately remembered not to take home in their hand luggage on the BA flight home.

Verdict a very enjoyable day.

Result

Tim Schofield 27th (out of 41) - 50+ age group - 11th

Diane Austin 21 (out of 26) - 70+ age group - 3rd

Julie Schofield 25th (out of 26) - 50+ agre group - 9th