Round 4 of the 2019/20 NI Junior Foil Series took place last Sunday in the Queen’s Leisure Complex in Holywood. Sixteen SU fencers took part, 9 of whom won medals: 1 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze.
U12s
Amelia Penny won 4 from 6 of her poule fights, placing her 3rd in the seedings for the direct elimination stage. She then progressed as far as the semi-finals where she was knocked out by the eventual winner to finish joint 3rd.
In the Boys’ U12s Noah Currie and Myles Wilkinson were 3rd and 5th seeds after the poules. Myles then made the quarter-finals but lost 7-10 to finish just outside the medals in 5th. Noah progressed one step further into the semi-finals where he put up a strong performance, but lost 8-10 to take a bronze medal.
U14s
Sophia Cahill gave an impressive performance on her first competitive appearance of the year by only dropping one fight in her poule to take the 2nd seed position, Charlie Biemers and Alexandra Ong filling positions 3 and 6. Unluckily, Charlie and Alexandra met at the quarter-final stage, with Charlie winning and going through to the semis. Here she met Sophia in a close fought fight, the score reaching 14-14 before Charlie took the winning point to go forward into the final; Sophia finishing 3rd and Alexandra 6th. In the final Charlie put up a good fight but lost to the no.1 seed to take the silver medal.
In the U14 boy’s category Finn Neely and Lewis Currie emerged from the poule stage as 7th and 8th seeds. Both made it to the quarter-finals, Finn with a convincing 15-2 win in the last 16, while Lewis made it after a tough 15-13 win. Both were knocked out in the quarters, Finn finishing 7th and Lewis 8th.
U16s
Izzy Evans had a great start in the girls’ U16s, winning all her poule fights to take the no.1 seed position going into the direct eliminations. She was followed by Victoria Morris as 2nd seed, Rachel McKillen in 3rd, and Alex Atkinson and Angharad King joint 4th. The non-attendance of the usual Republic of Ireland U16 female fencers at this round allowed the Sullivan girls to totally dominate this age group. Of the 5 SU girls, it was Angharad who failed to make the semi-finals, finishing 5th. Izzy and Rachel were knocked out by Alex and Victoria in the semis, Victoria defeating Alex in the final to take her 3rd win of the year.
The boy’s U16 poules saw Alexander Penny win 4 from 6 fights to take the 3rd seed position, with Adam Caldwell and Keir Murray 6th and 7th. Adam and Keir both fell at the quarter-final stage, finishing 7th and 6th respectively, while Alexander made it to the semis but lost to the no.2 seed to finish with a bronze medal.
Round 5 takes place on Sat 7th March 2020 in the Sullivan Upper Sports Hall.
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