Last Sunday 7th November saw the return of competitive fencing to N Ireland with Round 1 of the 2021/2022 N Ireland Junior Foil Series, held at Hunterhouse College in South Belfast. Six Sullivan Upper Fencing Club junior members attended: Noah Currie, Finn Neely, Alexandra Ong, Amelia Penny, Sam Snoddy, and Myles Wilkinson.
U16s
In the U16 Boys, Finn Neely won all his poule fights to take the no.1 seed position for the knock-out stage. He then won through to the final where he was narrowly beaten 10-9 in a tie break. Alexandra Ong made the semis in the girls’ U16s, but lost, finishing with the bronze medal.
U14s
Amelia Penny won 4 fights from 5 in her poule, placing her 2nd in the seedings for the U14 Girls’ knock-out stage. She ended up facing the no.1 seed in the final where she took silver in a tough fight against the top U14 from Dublin. After the poule stage in the U14 Boys’ event Noah Currie was seeded 2nd and Myles Wilkinson 3rd. Unfortunately the 2 SU fencers met in the semis, with Noah going through to the final and Myles taking the bronze medal. Noah then defeated the no.1 seed in the final with a convincing 15-7 win.
U12s
Year 8 Sam Snoddy won all his poule fights and took the top seed position for the knock-out stage. He then had a tough route through to take the U12 Boys’gold medal, winning both semi-final and final by one point 10-9.
These are excellent results for our SU fencers, with a total of 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Well done all six, and bad luck Charlie Beimers for missing out due to Covid! Thanks is due to 3 of our senior fencers, Izzy Evans, Alexander Penny and Victoria Morris who attended the event as fight referees.
Round 2 of the NIJFS will be on Sat 11th December in RBAI in Belfast. For those 16 and over the next event will be the North West Open senior competition in the Ulster University Magee Campus on 20th and 21st November.
David White
SUFC Coach
08 Nov 2021