The 3rd round of the 2021/2022 N Ireland Junior Foil Series took place last Sunday 6th February in the Queen’s Leisure Complex in Holywood. A record breaking 18 SUFC fencers turned out for it and for 7 of them it was their first experience of fencing competition: Victoria Meharg, Cassidy Ogle, Effie Lappin, Lois Donald, Phoebe Henderson, Lennox Brown and Tom Woolsey-Jensen.
U12s
Mia Morrow won gold in this category after a nail biting 10-9 win her semi-final, followed by a convincing 10-1 win in the final, both wins against fencers from the leading club in Dublin. In the boys’ U12s Ben Wilson and Sam Snoddy made the quarter-finals but were then knocked out, finishing 7th and 8th, with Adam Sugar coming in 9th.
U14s
After the poule stage in the U14 girls’ age group, Amelia Penny was seeded 2nd, with Victoria, Cassidy, Effie, Lois and Phoebe taking seeding positions 4 to 8 respectively. Amelia and Victoria made the semi-finals, where Amelia won through to the final and Victoria was knocked out. Amelia lost in the final, taking the silver medal and Victoria's progression to the semi won her a bronze. Cassidy, Effie, Lois and Phoebe finished 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. In the boys’ U14s Noah had 4 wins from 7 in the poules, giving him a 3rd place seeding for the knock-out stage with Myles seeded 5th, Rohan 7th, Finnbharr 9th, Lennox 12th and Tom 13th. Only Noah and Myles made it out of the last 16 into the quarters where Noah was knocked out and Myles won a close fight 15-14 to go into the semis. Myles lost his semi-final to finish joint 3rd and take a bronze medal. Noah finished 5th, Rohan 9th, Finnbharr 10th, Lennox 12th and Tom 13th.
U16s
Charlie and Alexandra met in the U16 girls’semi-final, with Charlie going through to the final and Alexandra taking a bronze medal. Charlie ended up with the silver after losing in the final. Finn Neely was again absent from the Boys’s U16s after getting Covid for a 2nd time.
An excellent set of results from the SU fencers, with a total medal tally of 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze. Well done to all 18 and thanks again to senior fencers Izzy Evans, Alexander Penny, Victoria Morris and Angharad King, who attended the event as fight referees.
Round 4 of the NIJFS will be on Sat 12th of March in the Sullivan Sports Hall. For the seniors the next event will be the Belfast Open, temporarily moved to the Ulster University Magee Campus in Londonderry on 13th March.
David White
SUFC Coach
09 Feb 2022
