James Dunmall won a superb silver medal at an EFC under 14 event in Zrenjanin, Serbia, on 10th May. The medal is Royal Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club’s first ever step onto an international podium.

The Serbian success strengthens James’s hold on second place in the British U14 rankings and all-but guarantees his selection to fence for GB at the European Fencing Festival in Istanbul in June – his main goal this season.

James made a strong start in Serbia, winning all of his poule bouts, then took out two Serbs and a Netherlander on his way to the final, where a Serb ref mysteriously disallowed five of James’s hits against his Serbian opponent.

Despite this questionable conclusion, James was delighted with his silver medal, and sees it as the product of all his hard work: “It is the achievement of all the hours put in training and attending fencing camps over the last few years,” he said. “I am thrilled that all this work got rewarded with a silver medal at an EFC U14 competition.”

James sees his semi-final victory as particularly satisfying: “I had to deliver very high standards of fencing against my opponent, who has won a few EFC U14 competitions himself. It was a very close game to the end.”

James’s silver adds to his impressive collection of medals this year, with gold at the Regional Championships, Elite Epee Junior Series and Leon Paul Junior Series golds, as well as silvers at both series and also a bronze at the British Youth Championships.

James Dunmall (pictured, above) and Timmy Yakovlev both won bronze medals on the final day of the British Youth Championships (BYCs) in Sheffield on 5th May to keep the club’s podium streak going strong at national level.

In the U14 event, James fought his way past lefties and pommellers then the British number one in the quarter finals before going down to the eventual winner in a semi-final see-saw bout.

Timmy started strongly in the under 12 event, and held firm in his quarter final to win 10-7. He promptly celebrated with a Premiership-worthy knee slide then a 60-metre dash shouting “Yessss!” and waving his arms frantically in the air. Despite a tight loss in the last four, Timmy smiled all the way to the podium.

Backing up these best of British performances on the final day of the BYCs, both Logan Brown in the U14 boys and Artemis Nakos in the U12 girls made the last 16, whilst Willa Raymond (U12), Lorenzo Rehman (U12) and Roy Ching (U14) reached the last 32.

The first two days of the BYCs featured plenty of tough draws and near misses – with Sasha Yakovlev unfortunate to be double-whammied by both in the U18 boys event. However, Daisy Beadsworth and Annabelle Lavin made the last 32, and Izzie D’Abbraccio dazzled with 5th place in the U16 girls, signalling a turn in RTWFC’s luck as the nail-biters then started to go our way on the final day.

Throughout the competition, our fencers fought as hard as they could and conducted themselves admirably, and BYC newcomers Willa, Elsa Brondbjerg, Miles Yiu and Hugo Claringbull all acquitted themselves well.

As ever, our pride of lions made us all proud to be part of Royal Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club.

Full results:

3rd James Dunmall (U14 Boys) (78 fencers)

3rd Timmy Yakovlev (U12 Boys) (45)

5th  Izzie D’Abbraccio (U16 Girls) (53)

13th Logan Brown (U14 Boys) (78)

14th Artemis Nakos (U12 Girls) (39)

17th Alec Hargreaves (U16 Boys (68)

23rd Willa Raymond (U12 Girls) (39)

23rd Daisy Beadsworth (U18 Girls) (36)

24th Annabelle Lavin (U18 Girls) (36)

28th Roy Ching (U14 Boys) (78)

28th Lorenzo Rehman (U12 Boys) (45)

37th Sasha Yakovlev (U18 Boys) (63)

40th Hugo Claringbull (U16 Boys) (68)

46th Elsa Brondbjerg (U16 Girls) (53)

52nd Miles Yiu (U14 Boys (78)

Sasha Yakovlev and Walter Cheung (pictured, above) took gold, James Dunmall won silver and Timmy Yakovlev scooped a bronze at the Elite Epee Junior Series in Surrey on 12th April.

Among the earliest starters, Sasha was in control throughout and scored an impressive victory in the Cadet Men’s Epee; teammate Rudi Madams gained invaluable experience and finished in 40th. Izzie D’Abbraccio and Hiba Rochdi very nearly medalled in the Women’s event, both quelled at the quarter-final stage, whilst Elsa Brondbjerg battled a diabolical draw to finish in 25th.

Next up, Walter won gold in the U10 event via a duo of dominant DE performances, and Timmy added an U12 bronze to his growing collection.

The last two under starters orders were James Dunmall and Logan Bown in the U14s. Both needed big comebacks to make it to the quarters, and duly delivered, where the former squeaked his way through against the latter 11-10, before another 11-10 win took James to the final and an eventual silver medal.