Fighting back from the brink of defeat, Izzy D’Abbraccio proved her knockout stage steeliness once again to win the U14 girls event at The Youth Series in Manchester on Sunday 20th March.

Placed fourth after the poules, Izzy found herself 7-13 down against fifth seed Erika Hodkinson in the quarters, only to rally to 11-14… then 15-14. Zoinks! A 9-8 victory against Zina Suresh followed, then Izzy took the final 11-7 against number two seed Kia Wright – who’d beaten Izzy twice in the poules!

Mental toughness? Tick. The win may just take Izzy to the top of England’s U14 rankings.

Other results

On Saturday 19th March a fantastic four of RTW teens were in action at their first ever open event – the Invicta in Canterbury. Matthew Gathern was unfortunately injured in the warm-up but soldiered on to 77th place; solid starts saw Will Patten and Benedict Graham both get a bye through to the round of 64, and they finished 45th and 46th respectively – great effort, boys! We await a final placing for Hannah Taylor in the women’s event.

Two club coaches were also in action at the Invicta: James Fleming-Fido finished 35th and Gerry Lavin 55th. Spiffing work, chaps!

Well done to all of our fencers in action this weekend.

A fantastic five fencers represented the club at the Elite Epee Junior Series in Moulton on Saturday 19th February, and two headed back down the M1 with medals.

Lloyd Osborne fenced brilliantly to reach the U14 Boys final, only to be squeezed out 15-14 in a dramatic bout against Garan Thompson.

In the U17 Boys event, Benedict Graham looked sharp throughout, just coming up short 15-10 against strong-armed Cai Eastwood at the semi-final stage. Team-mate Miles Raymond finished a solid 18th in the same event – onwards and upwards, Miles…

Isabella D’Abbraccio and Eilidh Paterson acquitted themselves well in an U14 Girls comp that featured almost all of the country’s best fencers in the age group,. Frustratingly, Izzy and Eilidh collided in the last 16, with the former outreaching the latter 15-10. Still, 8th and 9th respectively against a tough crowd – most of whom are a year older – bodes well for future success.

Well done, weekend warriors!

Results:

🥈 Lloyd Osborne (U14 Boys)
🥉 Benedict Graham (U17 Boys)
8th Isabella D’Abbraccio (U14 Girls)
9th Eilidh Paterson (U14 Girls)
18th Miles Raymond (U17 Boys)

On Saturday 11th May, Royal Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club hosted its latest TWIST event. TWIST stands for ‘Tunbridge Wells Individual and School Team’ event, although it has grown beyond its origins to include an adult category and teams from other clubs.

This time, RTWFC’s fencers faced teams from Skippers Hill Manor, Mayfield Girls School, Roedean Moira House and Brighton College, as well as individuals from Lewes Fencing Club and Our Lady of Sion School.

In the morning, RTWFC won four of the five team categories, and in the afternoon all six of the individual age groups – although the club did provide half of the fencers competing on the day!

Notably, Mayfield Girls School managed to break the home club’s golden stranglehold by finishing top of the Girls Year 5-11 category, and there were silver linings for the Skippers Hill boys in the Year 5-8 team category, as well as Roedean Moira House’s Vivian Talintuya (Girls Year 8-11 individual) and Alex Hart from Lewes Fencing Club (Adult mixed individual).

Top of the bling list for RTWFC were Benedict Graham, Hannah Taylor, William Briggs and Martin Briggs, who won gold in both the team and individual categories.

Just as importantly, though, the event welcomed seven fencers who’d never competed before. We’re delighted that the TWIST is maintaining its friendly atmosphere and continues to attract newcomers to what is primarily a competition for novices.

See you in September for a female-only TWIST, and in November for a male-only event.