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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:34:50 GMT -5
Commonwealth Fencing Championship in city Chennai Online Chennai, India Jan 23 06 www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B169469A3-C9CE-4974-88DF-6185BC0FBFC8%7D&CATEGORYNAME=SPOWales, Scotland and England start as favourites for medals in five categories of inaugural Commonwealth Fencing (Junior) Championship starting here tomorrow. Helen Leslie Smith, President, Commonwealth Fencing Federation told a press conference that everything was in place for the smooth and successful conduct of the event. Expressing happiness over the involvement of the Tamil Nadu Government in hosting the event, she said "it will go a long way in popularising this ancient sport". She said excepting South Africa and Canada all the other Commonwealth countries have arrived for the event and the youngsters would learn a lot, as it was a great opportunity for them to show their wares. England boasts with reigning European Champion, Alexander O'Connell in men, while Northern Island with Ellis Sarah in women, both considered to be the best in the fray in the Sabre event. In the Women's foil, the girls from Singapore have shown tremendous improvement in their standards thanks to their Government's assistance in providing a Russian Coach, Smith said adding "these girls have been frequently competing in tournaments in Australia and have won few times". Asrun Kumar Vij, Secretary of the Indian Federation and the Commonwealth Federation said the Federation has done its best and hoped that the Indian women would be amongst the medal winners in Sabre event, commencing on Wednesday. Events in Foil, Epee and Sabre (individual and team) in men and women would held in the week-long championship.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:36:30 GMT -5
Fencing club gearing up for Raleigh tournamentBy Chuck McShane Correspondent Fayetteville Online Fayetteville, NC, USA 1/23/06 www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=224951Members of the All-American Fencing Club are looking forward to this weekend when they will travel to Raleigh’s NBS gym for the second North Carolina Circuit. All-American fencing coach Gerhard Guevarra said he expects Paul Hovey, Devon Wilson and Derek Secord, among other All-American fencers, to do well. Hovey, who Guevarra described as the most consistent fencer this year, has had a good season. He has advanced into the later rounds at most tournaments but has not finished in the top eight yet this year. Guevarra said if Hovey does well the rest of the season, he could qualify for the nationals in Atlanta this summer. Wilson switched weapons from foil to eppe. Guevarra said the change has worked well for her. “It seems to suit her much better than foil,” he said. “She did fine with foil, but being in epee has opened up her abilities and confidence.” Secord is also expected to attend. Guevarra said the North Carolina circuit should be a much-needed experience-builder for the young fencer. “This is really (Derek’s) first competitive season,” Guevarra said. “He’s learned so much and he is such a great fencer. (But) he’s being overcome by sheer experience of the other fencers.” The All-American fencing team is also looking forward to the return of their many military members who have been deployed overseas. Guevarra said the team has missed “their experience and depth.”
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:38:03 GMT -5
Fencing is a sport rapidly gaining in popularityBy PETER FEBBRARO The Express Times Easton, PA, USA January 23, 2006 www.nj.com/sports/expresstimes/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/113801067569500.xml&coll=2If you make your way to the YMCA of Easton, Phillipsburg and Vicinity, don't feel nervous if you see 25 people carrying swords around the building. They're just members of the Y's fencing club. Fencing, a sport that dates to the ancient Olympics, has been brought to the Lehigh Valley recently, thanks partly to the hard work and dedication of Mike and Mary Malecki, of Forks Township. The club, which began its second session a week ago, meets two times a week for lessons, and on Sundays for bouts. Mike Malecki, 53, has been fencing since he was 18, and a few months agomentioned his idea for the club to Veronica Drake, the Y's marketing membership director. "Veronica seemed enthusiastic," Mike Malecki said. "She told me to see if there was any interest and the Y would do all it could to help us." If the turnout for the group's second session is any indication, there is plenty of interest. "We had five members for the first session," Malecki said. "When the second session began a few weeks ago there were 20 to 25 people that came out to see." Ages of the group membersrange from 12 to 63, and this is what Malecki feels is one of the sport's strengths. "It really is based on the individual," Malecki said. "Just being involved in the sport is great. It's aerobic, develops hand-eye coordination and I compare it to physical chess." For those interested in just getting acquainted, Malecki pointed out that it is initially a relatively inexpensive sport. Mike Malecki, 53, has been fencing since he was 18, and a few months agomentioned his idea for the club to Veronica Drake, the Y's marketing membership director. "Veronica seemed enthusiastic," Mike Malecki said. "She told me to see if there was any interest and the Y would do all it could to help us." If the turnout for the group's second session is any indication, there is plenty of interest. "We had five members for the first session," Malecki said. "When the second session began a few weeks ago there were 20 to 25 people that came out to see." Ages of the group members range from 12 to 63, and this is what Malecki feels is one of the sport's strengths. "It really is based on the individual," Malecki said. "Just being involved in the sport is great. It's aerobic, develops hand-eye coordination and I compare it to physical chess." For those interested in just getting acquainted, Malecki pointed out that it is initially a relatively inexpensive sport.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:40:24 GMT -5
Iranian swordsmen to fight at Tunisia, Kuwait GPs MehrNews.com Tehran, Iran 1/23/06 www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=281429Iran will compete at grand prix in Tunisia and Kuwait, the Fencing Federation announced here Monday. The country’s saber side will leave for Tunisia Wednesday to take part in the Tunis-based GP. Fencers Mojtaba Abedini, Parviz Darvishi, Hamid-Reza Taherkhani, Reza Khaleqi, Soheil Khavandi, Peyman Fakhri, Hamed Khaleqi, and Amin Qorbani will represent the country in the international tournament. Trainer Victor Kaposkov and head Mohammad Nasser will accompany the national side. Tunis will host the event from Jan. 27-29. The epee team will also clash in Kuwait City's tournament. Ali Yaqubian, Mohammad Rezaii, Mohammad Purdana, Siamak, Feiz-Asgari, Mohammad-Hossein Abedini, Mehdi Rahimzadeh-Faraji, Hamed Sedaqati, and Mehdi Alaii are representatives of the country in the international meet. Kuwait is to hold the event from Jan. 27-29.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:41:54 GMT -5
Men's Fencing Drops Four at Philadelphia Invite
Blue Jays Slip to 12-10 on the Year[/b][/color] Johns Hopkins Blue Jays Baltimore, MD, USA 1/24/06 hopkinssports.collegesports.com/sports/m-fenc/recaps/012406aaa.html The Johns Hopkins men's fencing team returned to action on Sunday, January 22 at the University of Pennsylvania and suffered losses to Penn (17-10), Haverford (15-12), North Carolina (14-13) and Rutgers (21-6) to fall to 12-10 on the year. In their closest match of the day the Blue Jays fell to North Carolina, 14-13. The foil was the only weapon the Blue Jays won as they picked up a narrow 5-4 win over the Tar Heels. Freshman James Einsiedler (Falmouth, ME/Waynflete) won all three of his bouts in the foil to lead the way against North Carolina, but the `Heels picked up 5-4 wins in both the saber and epee to pull out the one-point team victory. Sophomore Aaron Fernandes (Short Hills, NJ/Millburn) won 2-of-3 in the saber and freshman Max Mealy (Davis, CA/Davis) won 2-of-3 in the epee. Senior Jason Park (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Ramapo) won 2-of-3 in the saber against both Penn and Haverford and fueled a 5-4 win in the saber against Haverford, but the Fords took the epee (6-3) and foil (5-4) to pull out the 15-12 win. Penn won all three weapons, while Rutgers won the sabre (9-0) and epee (8-1), before the Blue Jays took a 5-4 decision in the foil. Junior Nick Marchuk (Ringoes, NJ/Hun) was both of his bouts in the foil to help lead the way in the 5-4 win against the Scarlet Knights. Johns Hopkins will return to action on Sunday, January 29 when the Blue Jays host their own Invitational. Philadelphia Invitational Team ResultsPenn-17, Johns Hopkins-10 Haverford-15, Johns Hopkins-12 North Carolina-14, Johns Hopkins-13 Rutgers-21, Johns Hopkins-6
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:43:13 GMT -5
Fencing Team Goes 3-4 at Philly InviteBy Jeremy Drucker, Staff Writer Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun Ithaca, NY, USA 1/24/06 www.cornellsun.com/media/paper866/news/2006/01/24/Sports/Fencing.Team.Goes.34.At.Philly.Invite-1502422.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.cornellsun.comThe Cornell women's fencing team began its season on a modest note this past weekend, winning 3-of-7 matches, which leaves the Red with a 3-4 record overall. After a difficult first day, which saw the Red go 1-3 on Saturday, Cornell was able to rebound with a strong finish on Sunday, going 2-1 on the final day. The Philadelphia Invitational Multi-Meet, held in Philadelphia, Penn., was hosted by No. 9 Penn, and represented the first regular-season battle for first-year head coach Iryna Dolgikh. "Coach has been really helpful and helped us win some matches that we might not have won in the past," said senior epeeist and team captain Meghan Phair. In the first team competition of the season, the Red showed some of its youth and inexperience on the first day, but was resilient and came out fighting on the second day of the meet. For the young team, this start was somewhat encouraging. "We were pretty happy with how we did. We have a very young team, and we came out nervous but settled down and were fencing much better by the end of the weekend," Phair said. On the first day of competition, freshmen Alex Heiss set the pace for the Red with a 10-2 record in sabre. However, the team faltered, suffering tough losses to No. 7 Northwestern, 23-4, and Temple, 19-8, while falling short by the slimmest of margins in a 14-13 defeat at the hands of Drew. Despite topping Drew in both sabre and foil, a 6-3 defeat in epee sealed the Red's fate against Drew. The Red disposed of the New Jersey Institute of Technology 26-1. NJIT did not field fencers in all the events and was forced to forfeit several bouts. The Red came out fighting on the second day of action, scoring wins over Haverford and Rutgers, by 21-6 and 15-12, respectively, while suffering a close 15-12 loss to North Carolina. The epee team led the way for the Red, posting wins in all three matches. Phair, a two-time All-American, finished with a team best 8-1 record on the day, which gave her a 17-3 overall record for the meet. Heiss went 7-2 to finish off the weekend with a 17-4 record. After a disappointing first day, the Red was excited to come out and fence better the second time around. "When it came down to it, the girls buckled down and won the bouts they needed, but we are improving and should do better next time around," Phair said. The Red will be back in action on Jan. 28, when the team travels to Wellesley, Mass., to face Vassar, Tufts, Hunter and Wellesley. The Red is confident it can improve upon its first performance of the season. "Everybody needs to relax and become more confident in their abilities, and we should do much better this coming weekend," Phair said.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:46:02 GMT -5
Fencing: Harina reaches prequartersChennai Online Chennai, India 1/24/06 www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B08DC5118-618A-4B39-8AF8-2DF0F9690D13%7D&CATEGORYNAME=Nati onal Chennai, Jan 24: Harina Devi Nongamaithem was the lone Indian amongst eight to make the pre-quarterfinals, while Christie Wadington of Scotland won the women's sabre individual title in the inaugural world junior fencing championship here tonight. Waddington, who managed to get the better of second seed Holly Newman of Wales in the semifinals, defeated Sarah Ellis of Northern Ireland 15-11 for the title. Waddington scored a slender two point win over Newman in the semi finals at 15-13. Devi, representing India 'A', was lucky to make the last 16 grade, as she was pitted against Sandeep Kaur of India-B. The other six failed to cross the first hurdle, but not before displaying some skills and fighting qualities. Devi overwhelmed Sandeep Kaur 15-1. Top seed Rossetti Chole of Australia, who defeated Devi at 15-6, did not last the next round as she went down to Jessica Devis of Wales 15-9. Devis made the exit, losing to Sarah Ellis in the semi final at 15-12. Following are the other results (India-unless stated): Katherine Kempe (Wal) bt Shivani Hans 15-8, Jessica Davis (Wal bt Huimin Lee Ann (Singa) 15-12, Angela Bilardi (Eng) bt Megha 15-11, Harriet Stilley (Scot) bt Tarneet 15-10, Grace O'Connel (NIR) bt Pckiyalakshmi Janardhan 15-3, Sophi Williams (Eng) bt Sashi Rekha 15-8 and Bryony Ellis (NIR) bt Lovejit Kaur 15-10.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:47:37 GMT -5
En garde! Fencing can help keep you trimBy Tom Dunkel of The Baltimore Sun Indianapolis Star United States 1/24/2006 www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/LIVING01/601240303/1083This past January, I was desperately seeking some physical activity," says Dr. Joanne Watson, a 37-year-old family medicine physician at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. Her husband, Bruce, also a doctor, had been dispatched to Kentucky with his Army Reserve unit. Suddenly, Joanne was sole caregiver for their three young children and in need of an occasional sanity-saving energy burn. She also recently had dropped 53 pounds dieting and wanted to keep the weight off. "I hate the treadmill," says Watson. "I hate the gym. And I hate walking." She spotted an ad in a community newspaper for the Chesapeake Fencing Club and decided to check it out. The club leases space inside a Knights of Columbus hall in North Baltimore and has about 60 saber-rattling active members. Even seasoned fencers, however, concede that their sport has an image problem. Maybe it's the snow-white uniforms that remind you of cavalrymen dipped in powdered sugar. Maybe it's the French-laced terminology. Or the minimalist action. Most people might think the toughest part of the sport is squeezing into those tight pants. Au contraire. "There's a lot of legwork. We call it physical chess," says Watson. "Getting yourself into position, the lunging. It's aerobic and it's anaerobic." Ray Gordon, a 43-year-old professional fencing instructor who serves as club president, says you work the quad muscles and hamstrings especially hard. "Fencing is very high intensity," he adds, "so it's more like sprinting than jogging." Longtime member Dan Collins, senior director of media relations at Mercy Medical Center, says fencing also develops upper body strength and balance. "You burn calories at a higher rate than a professional football player," says Collins. Fencing probably will never be a staple of ESPN coverage. Roughly 500,000 Americans fence recreationally, according to Mike May, spokesman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. But in 2000 the association dropped fencing from its annual Super Study of Sports Participation. "It's one of those sports that's sort of a niche activity," says May, putting fencing in the company of wind surfing and squash. The good news is that membership in the tournament-oriented U.S. Fencing Association stands at 25,000, up about 50 percent in four years. "We are seeing rapid growth," says Cindy Bent Findlay, the association's media relations officer. She attributes that spike to the proliferation of coaches and the U.S. women's team having won gold and bronze medals in saber fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Very few Chesapeake Fencing Club members dream of someday striking Olympic gold. They practice two nights a week for the fun of it. Joanne Watson did drills for more than a month before proceeding to an actual bout, whereupon, she recalls, a 12-year-old fencer "kicked my butt." There are three weapons of choice: foil, epee and saber. The swords vary slightly in weight and grip, but, most critically, in the size of the target area on an opponent's body. With the epee, everything is fair game; with the foil, just the torso. A saber scores anywhere above the waist, including the head and arms. A point is awarded every time a sword tip touches a hot spot on the body, which is wired to record electronic hits. The standard match lasts nine minutes -- or until a fencer registers 15 touches. Watching Gordon and Collins spar is like watching a mating ritual in the animal kingdom. There's lots of fancy footwork and parrying punctuated by split seconds of frenzied, meaningful action. They stutter-step up and back on a 40-foot-long, 6-foot-wide strip marked by colored tape on the wood floor -- their truncated battlefield. "I'm still in the think-too-much stage," says Watson, pointing out instinctive moves the two men employ that are invisible to the untrained eye. There's little of the swashbuckling flash and clash that characterize Hollywood sword fights. "In movies, what they're doing is trying not to hit each other," says club member Jay Glenn. "Here, you want to make your blade movements as small as possible." Collins, dripping sweat, takes a seat on a folding chair after he and Gordon finish. He says he grew up chubby, "the last-kid-picked-for-dodge ball type of thing." In 1986, he intended to sign up for a course on automobile maintenance at a YMCA and instead wound up taking a fencing course Gordon was teaching. Back then, Collins was overweight and plagued by high blood pressure. Twenty years later, he's more than 40 pounds lighter and part of what he calls "this underground society of fencers." He owes that transformation to now-best friend Ray Gordon, who has stripped off his workout clothes and walks by wearing a favorite Descartes-inspired T-shirt. It reads: "I fence, therefore I am."
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 3:50:39 GMT -5
Fencing program blossoms at HackettstownBy VERN MILLER, JR. Herald Sports Writer New Jersey Herald January 24, 2006 www.njherald.com/354819696536965.php Which high school sports program has sent over 100 scholarship athletes to schools like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Temple, Stanford, Princeton and Columbia? En Garde, it's the Hackettstown fencing team. "We have a comprehensive athletics program in 18 sports," Hackettstown athletic director Bobby Grauso said. "We have more scholarship athletes coming out of fencing than any other sport. The credit has to go to our coaches, Roger and Marianne Pratschler. "They are great teachers and do a great job recruiting kids into the sport." Roger has been coaching the Tigers' boy's team and Marianne the girls for 24 years. The Pratschlers fenced in high school and college clubs, but also had a personal interest in the sport — their daughter, Darlene. She started fencing when she was nine, and became the inspiration for her parents' decision to become coaches. "It keeps us off the streets and we've grown really attached to the kids," Marianne said. Darlene grew into one of the top competitors in the country, fenced at Columbia University and won a national title and a place on the Pan American team. She has been the coach at Newark Academy for three years, one of 40 high school fencing programs throughout the state. Over that time, fencing programs have evolved across the state. There is now a Skyland Conference Championship in the sport, with Voorhees, Somerville, North Hunterdon and Watchung Hills maintaining programs. It is an expensive sport with a high initial-cost upward of $25,000, bu it continues to make headway in regional schools. Hunterdon Central is starting a program, West Morris Central's program is supported by parents and Pope John is starting a fencing club. "It's an expensive sport and some funding does come from our athletic budget," Grauso said. "But we've got a very strong booster club, the 'Friends of Fencing,' and a terrific parents organization. "They remain a part of the support group even after their kids graduate." Both coaches point to "family legacy" as a hallmark of the sport, with Bob noting the history of the Forsythe family and Marianne the Kuehns in the Hackettstown annals. The Pratschlers are credited with boosting interest and enthusiasm for the sport among youngsters in the community and are very active on a state level, lending their expertise to help programs and clubs across the region. The Tigers have 55 fencers on this year's roster and have had as many as 100 kids on the team in a single year. Where fencers from earlier generations were drawn to the sport by Errol Flynn dueling Basil Rathbone in films like "The Adventures of Robin Hood" or television shows like "Zorro," Roger and Marianne attract youngsters with "Star Wars" lightbeam fencing sequences at their summer fencing camp for kids. "It's great for kids to start when they're young, say nine or ten," Marianne said. "But inexperience is not a problem if they only get started in high school. We get a lot of 'overflow' athletes from other sports, kids who didn't make the football team, or spring and summer-season athletes looking to do something else over the winter. "We can teach the basics pretty quickly and it seems like fencing attracts some of the very bright kids." In a sport where footwork counts for a lot and the weapon is the great equalizer with no physical size or weight class restrictions, it also helps to be an active thinker. "We refer to fencing as physical chess," Marianne said. "The fencer needs to develop a strategy to make their opponent miss, or to make a mistake that they can take advantage of." There are eight basic offensive and eight basic defensive positions to learn and there are three types of weapons - foil, epee and sabre. All fencers start off using a foil, the basic training weapon which weighs one-pound and has a 35-inch blade. Scoring is done in foil bouts by striking the opponent's trunk, the area containing the body's vital organs, with the foil's tip. The action is fast and how quick or deliberate a fencer reacts will determine whether they remain with foil (as most do) or move to another weapon. Epee is an advanced weapon, also 35-inches long, but slightly heavier at 27 ounces. The entire body serves as the target area for the epee's tip, with timing and countering abilities a key for fencers who are usually taller with a longer arm reach. Sabre action is very fast, with the cutting edge of the blade allowed to strike as well as the tip. The sabre is a cavalry sword and the opponent's target area is above the waist, the arms or the head, designed to harm the opponent but not the horse, considered a spoil-of-war when the rules of fencing were adapted from an actual combat scenario. Fencers wear masks and protective equipment to ensure safety, with electric foil and sabre fencers wearing a lame, or metallic jacket, that detects a valid hit and is wired to a machine used for scoring. Epee fencers wear one glove, the other discarded to symbolically signify the tossing down of the gauntlet in an affair of honor, as in challenging your adversary to a dual. While a blade may break in epee and result in a nick or two to an ungloved hand, Marianne Pratschler confirms that as long as there is proper maintenance of all safety equipment, there is virtually no chance for serious injury in the sport. Chervyn Lee, a junior who is in her third year of foil fencing for the Tigers and is 20-7 this season, started fencing at 14 and has competed in tournaments every weekend for the last two years. "I love fencing and the way it pushes you mentally and physically," said Lee, who hopes to attend and fence at Columbia University. "I fence year-round and I'll be going to the Junior Olympics this year. I'm nervous because it's a big challenge and there are lots of great fencers nationally. "Sometimes it's hard to get a feel for someone you haven't fenced before, so it's harder to develop your strategy." Where team sports such as football or basketball can gain insight by film study of their opponents prior to game time, Lee advises that unless she can watch an opponent fencing someone else in a round-robin format, it's all in the approach once they're face-to-face. "Sometimes it's a question of just putting your blade out there and seeing how they react to it," she said. "You can get a feel for their style in how they respond when they take the blade. Sometimes it's a tip to their strategy." Rob Amrich, a 17 year-old senior, got hooked on the sport six years ago at one of the Pratschler's camps. He fences year-round in clubs and at United States Fencing Association tournaments and loves the slashing, fast-paced action of sabre competition as well as the intellectual challenge of the game. "In addition to needing strong legs and good footwork, you need to have strong arm and wrist strength to compete," he said. "But in addition to the physical skills you must be able to think quickly on your feet. "I think sabre is the hardest to fence because you have to guard a larger area and can be struck at any angle." Amrich also thinks that fencers deserve a lot more respect than they get from athletes on other teams, not only for the physical and mental skills required to succeed in the sport, but for all that Hackettstown fencing has accomplished over the years. "Look at how many banners are up on the gym's wall," he said. "We're one of the best programs in NJ and we'd like to get the recognition that we deserve. It's a sport that requires dedication and concentration and it should be more well-respected." The Tigers have won numerous district championships and state titles in boy's epee (1999) and girl's foil (2003) along with Melissa Forsythe winning the individual state championship in epee in 2005. The Pratschlers have won coach of the year titles in 1989 and 2005, but their proudest accomplishment is the long history of great fencers that have graduated Hackettstown and attended excellent academic institutions across the country. "Sara Forsythe at Temple, Brett Williams at Columbia, Rakesh Patel becoming an All-American at Notre Dame," Roger replied when asked to name some of the greats. "Bethany Devine at Stanford and Jim Turner at Cal-Poly who became team captain as a freshman. "And I've certainly got to include my daughter Darlene, who got the whole thing started for us." At the end of every season Roger and Marianne consider the possibility of retiring, but keep coming back. "It's because of the quality and the type of kids we get to teach," Roger said. "If it wasn't for them we would have gone a long time ago." Marianne points to their 14-month old granddaughter for inspiration. "I think we'll stick around long enough to teach her to fence."
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:15:48 GMT -5
Commonwealth junior fencing championship gets underwayThe Hindu India's National Newspaper 1/24/06 www.hindu.com/2006/01/24/stories/2006012407052000.htmCHENNAI, India: Curiosity will be the biggest actor when the inaugural six-day Commonwealth junior (under-20) fencing championship begins at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. Despite being an Olympic sport, fencing has not made much headway in India. An event of this magnitude — being held for the first time in India — can, at best, infuse interest and hopefully bring about more awareness. For the past couple of years, the Tamil Nadu Government, through its Sports Development wing, has been evincing interest in fencing at the grassroots level. This has been reflected in the infrastructure made available for the championship, which according to the organisers, is top class. This has been one of the primary reasons Chennai has been chosen by the Commonwealth Fencing Federation. Excellent facilities "The aluminium piste (the duelling area) is of international standard," said Arun Kumar Vij, Secretary General, Fencing Federation of India. R.J. Ruban, President, Tamil Nadu Fencing Association, said it's been a losing battle as far as convincing the corporates to get involved in the sport is concerned. Aware of the ground realities, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu has pumped in around Rs. 45 lakh for equipment and other things, adds Ruban. Given its limited exposure, nothing special is expected from the Indian men's and women's `A' and `B' teams. "We expect a medal from the women's sabre event," predicts Vij. There are six individual events: men's and women's epee, men's and women's foil, and men's and women's sabre, with three phases: the qualifying round, direct elimination and the finals. The team events begin after the individual rounds.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:17:51 GMT -5
Northwestern Names Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week Men's swimming & diving's Eric Nilsson and fencing's Jessica Florendo earn honors[/color][/b] Northwestern University Sports Evanston, IL ,USA Jan. 23, 2006 nusports.collegesports.com/genrel/012306aaa.htmlEVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern University has named men's swimming & diving's Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) and fencing's Jessica Florendo (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School) Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week.  Jessica FlorendoNilsson, a freshman, won three individual events and swam a leg on Northwestern's pool-record-setting 800 free relay squad in the Wildcats' dual-meet win over No. 19 Notre Dame Friday. Nilsson won the 200 free, the 500 free and the 200 fly, then was the second leg on the 800 free relay that finished with a time of 6:33.85, besting the seven-year-old Norris Aquatics Center record by five seconds. Florendo, a junior foilist, went a combined 23-3 at the Penn and NYU Duals over the weekend. On Saturday at the Penn Duals in Philadelphia, she was a perfect 15-0, which included a 3-0 effort against ninth-ranked Penn. On Sunday in New York City, Florendo was 8-3 overall, going 2-1 versus No. 3 Columbia and No. 8 Yale. In NU's only team loss of the weekend, Florendo was 1-2 vs. sixth-ranked St. Johns. She was perfect 3-0 vs. NYU. Florendo's individual record is 56-8 this season while the team is 20-2 and ranked seventh in the country.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:28:10 GMT -5
International Fencing Federatation foreign coach for IndiaWebIndia123.com Chenani, India January 25, 2006 news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=230830&n_date=20060125&cat=Sports The International Fencing Federation (IFF) will provide a foreign coach to India to train its fencers to win laurels in foreign tournaments. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the first Commonwealth Junior Fencing championship here, IFF President Rene Roch said the foreign coach would either be an Ukranian or Romanian and would arrive in India in the next couple of months. He said India had evinced interest in conducting the Fencing World Cup next year. ''It will in all probability be allotted to India and the venue had not been decided so far''. Mr Rene, hailing from France, also announced that a fencing training school in South Asia would be set up in three months. On the reason behind staging the Commonwealth Junior Meet in India, the 77-year-old Rene, himself a sabre fencer in his time, said the sport had to be developed in Asian countries. ''We thought India is the right place. We will hold tournaments in India and spread to adjacent countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh to promote the sport in the Asian region''. He was all praise about the development of the sport in India. 'When I came to Bangalore about ten years ago, it was not up to the mark. Now, enormous progress has been made. It's better now. There is more talent and the sport has made very good progress.' Mr Rene said the IFF had proposed to bring in some changes to popularise the game and make it more spectator-friendly.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:34:47 GMT -5
Nittany Lion Men's and Women's Fencing Teams Host Nine Teams in Duals Saturday
Action begins at 9 a.m. in the White Building GoPSUsports.com State College, Pa. January 25, 2006 www.gopsusports.com/pressreleases/pressrelease.cfm?anncid=9391The Penn State Nittany Lion men's and women's fencing teams will host nine talented squads this Saturday in their final home duals of the 2005-06 season. Action is set to begin at 9 a.m. in the White Building's Fencing Rooms. Admission is free to the public. Under the guidance of veteran head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov, both Penn State teams will carry lofty national rankings into the action. The women, ranked No. 2, will get the chance to square off against Duke, Drew, Penn, Haverford, Columbia, North Carolina, Temple, St. John's and Hunter. Columbia is ranked No. 3, St. John's is ranked No. 6 and Penn is ranked No. 9. The women's are off to a 5-0 start this season, with early wins over UNC, Rutgers, Princeton, Harvard and New York University. The Nittany Lion men's team is ranked No. 3 nationally and will welcome all of the above teams except Temple, which fields only a women's squad. Penn State is 4-1 to date, with wins over UNC, Rutgers, Princeton and NYU. Penn State, which has won an unprecedented nine national championships since 1990, will visit Brandeis next weekend (Feb. 5) in its next action after this weekend's duals. The Nittany Lions will face Brandeis, MIT, Drew, Boston College, Johns Hopkins and Tufts.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:41:29 GMT -5
Australian wins Fencing titlechennaionline.com Chennai, India Jan 25, 06 www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B3F35907F-FC89-413E-95F9-7884F0202F5B%7D&CATEGORYNAME=NationalJo Slowiaczek of Australia, the top seed, tonight won the men's foil (individual) title in the Commonwealth junior fencing championship here, defeating Charles Hemery by a narrow margin of 15-14. Earlier in the semifinals, Slowiaczek put it past Christopher Kent of England 15-7, while Charles Hemery overcame Williams Dean of Australia 15-9. Slowiaczek is the only star to have scored convincing wins in the earlier rounds. All the eight Indian fencers, who qualified for the main draw of 32 bowed out. Harpreet Singh Rang missed the quarterfinal grade, losing to Slowiaczek 2-15. However, Rang, seeded 16th, showed his technical prowess in the first round when he eliminated James Loggie 15-11.
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Post by LongBlade on Feb 12, 2006 13:49:15 GMT -5
Reviving the art of fencing
Interview by Charles RandallTelegraph.co.uk United Kingdom 25/01/2006 www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/01/25/solife25.xml&sSheet=/sport/2006/01/25/ixothspt.html"Fencing is becoming more popular due to coverage we get on television and in so many films. I'm serious - it's true. There's a huge fencing scene in Die Another Day - Pierce Brosnan, with Madonna as the fencing master - and there's lots in the Zorro films. In Pirates of the Caribbean the actors were trained up by an ex-British under-20 coach, Bob Anderson, who now lives in Canada. I do displays at schools in London with the fencing master Pierre Harper, my live-in partner. The children always seem to know about fencing. So that's good. We have no trouble recruiting. In fact we're running out of kit in our borough Newham, where I started a council-funded project visiting schools three months ago. We've set up Newham Swords for the children, more informal than a salle [traditional fencing club]. And now adults are showing interest. Fencing has three disciplines - foil, sabre and epee. The main difference is the target area. Foil is the torso, sabre the torso and head, and epee the whole body, including the legs. The side of the blade can be used only in the sabre. Epee is heavier than the foil, with a thicker blade and bigger guard. With epee, patience is important. You have to be more cautious because the whole body is on target. Fights tend to be longer. With sabres it is over so fast. Concentration is needed, and you need to be warmed up mentally right from the start. Fencing originates in France. Many of the top masters in medieval times were from France or Italy. The sport's jargon is French - piste, salle, "touche", when acknowledging a hit, and sometimes "est la" - a triumphant hit. A club are called a salle with the name of the founding master appended. I attended Salle Boston in Southwark, and went to Salle Paul in Camden, where many champions have trained. One day Pierre and I hope to form our own club. In the last year changes have meant the foil has become much more like epee, upsetting a lot of foilists. Thank goodness, I'd given up before then. New electronic boxes have been introduced, phased to show only the first hit. A fencer can make a light by just sticking an arm out in counter attack, against all foil attacking traditions. My best chance of an Olympic medal was 1992. Ranked British No 1, I was going great guns before Barcelona until I injured knee ligaments competing in Italy. I made the Games but wasn't right mentally. These days Olympic qualifying is done by zones, but as Europe is by the far the strongest area, the system's unfair. Britain isn't a strong nation, but we're catching up. I was team manager at the under-20 World Championship last year when one of our fencers, Alex O'Connell, won the sabre gold. So I'm very proud. Injuries are very rare, but in the World Cup in Gottingen, when I was about 22, my opponent broke a blade and the point skimmed across my stomach. Though there was blood on my white breeches, I knew it was only a scratch and thought I'd better go to the first aid room, but three German doctors just jumped on me and ripped my breeches off in the middle of piste. Very embarrassing, but I did at least go on to win the tournament. Accidents like that wouldn't happen now as the blades are designed to break near the handle. I was about 12 when I started the sport at Stratford School. An Essex fencing coach called Chad Harvey had no takers and used to watch us playing table tennis. One day he called me over and said 'you're extremely fast, young lady', offering me a lesson. We all thought fencing was for snobs, but one day I tried. I loved dressing up in the white and feeling special as the school's only fencer. I was a never-say-die left-hander, an advantage because right-handers aren't used to lefties. In fact at the time I retired in 2002 the entire British women's foil team were left-handed. I had long lost touch with my first coach when one day at Barcelona I received a telegram. It said simply: "I'm so proud to have started off an Olympic athlete. Chad." It was very emotional for me."
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