51³Ô¹ÏÍø

51³Ô¹ÏÍø dominated the fencing fixtures at the BUCS Championships on Friday

51³Ô¹ÏÍø dominated the fencing fixtures at the BUCS Championships on Friday, victorious in both the Men’s and Women’s BUCS Championships and claiming a stake for themselves at the top of British university fencing.

All of the Championship level semi-finals took place simultaneously in the indoor sports hall at the English Institute of Sport (EIS). Quickly, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø showed their form, taking Foil category early leads against Edinburgh and Durham in the Men’s and Women’s competitions respectively: the men led 20-9 and the women were up to 30-7 soon after. The St Andrews-Manchester semi-final was proving rather closer, at 35-32 lead in the Epee. The clock called time on an exhausting bout between Adam Gordon of St Andrews and Gregory St Clair Jones of Manchester with the score at 43-all; sudden-death gave Manchester a slight advantage. Meanwhile, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø had taken 45-26 and 45-12 leads over Edinburgh and Durham, and Edinburgh Women led Cambridge 45-41 after the Sabre in their semi-final.

Manchester made a fast start to the Sabre but St Andrews came storming back to lead 35-20, while 51³Ô¹ÏÍø were looking less convincing, trailing by albeit small margins in their Epee categories. St Andrews’ high tempo was too much for Manchester, who fell 30-45 to present their opponents with a great chance to progress to the final. In the other matches, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Men lost out 44-45 to Edinburgh, though their Women had turned their match around to win the Epee 43-38; Cambridge had struck back against Edinburgh, taking the Foil 45-40.

St Andrews entered the Foil knowing 32 points would be enough; despite some awkward opponents and excruciatingly close bouts, their captain Cesar Diaz-Gonzalez sealed it with a clever little jab at 32-31. By this point, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Men were already in the final, having swept away Edinburgh 45-29 in the Sabre for an overall victory of 134-100. They now knew their opponents in the final, despite Manchester taking the Foil 45-43 as a small consolation. The Women’s final would be between 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, who had sealed a 133-83 win over Durham, and Cambridge, who had defeated Edinburgh 131-120.

The Men’s final began with the Foil; St Andrews made an aggressive start but 51³Ô¹ÏÍø had more clever shots up their sleeves; from 11-all, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø turned on their quality and rocketed into the lead. St Andrews gave their all in an attempt to force their way back in but were taking some punishment: Foil gave 51³Ô¹ÏÍø a big advantage, 45-26.

The Sabre was then again decisive, this time not in St Andrews’ favour. Maiyuran Ratneswaran, later awarded the Classic Miniatures supported BUCS ‘player of the final’, was instrumental as 51³Ô¹ÏÍø simply outclassed their opponents. Despite St Andrews offering some more resistance towards the final bouts, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø had the bit between their teeth and were not going to let their position slip: they took a 44-point lead with a 45-20 Sabre masterclass.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø got the single point they needed to confirm gold in the first Epee bout. Despite the match being decided, St Andrews did keep their spirits up and pushed 51³Ô¹ÏÍø all the way, drawing level at 44-all in the final minute of the last bout, before Marcell Colombino from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø snatched it 45-44 at the death.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø had justified their favourites tag by winning 135-90. St Andrews were content with Silver, Diaz-Gonzalez admitting that just getting to the final was a bonus and that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø had told his team they were the best they had fenced all season. For 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, it was a BUCS Championship double, as the Women had also won fairly comfortably against Cambridge, 123-96.

The Trophy finals were played on the same afternoon, and saw wins for Birmingham and Cardiff in the Men’s and Women’s competitions respectively, having seen off teams from Kent (130-115) and Glasgow (129-116) Universities.

Overall, it was a day of high-quality fencing played in good spirit and enjoyed by all who came to spectate. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø left with the Gold and the biggest cause for cheer, though the other teams who made it to Sheffield were rightfully applauded for a hard season’s work as well.