Championships double for Duellist Hal

YOUNG Thame Duellists’ Fencer, Hal Seed, fought to strong results in the National Youth Championships in Sheffield last weekend.

Fencing in the Boys’ Under 12 category, Hal was taking part in his first National Championships, having qualified with strong performances at regional level earlier in the year in both the foil and épée disciplines of fencing.

Lord Williams pupil Hal, who now trains with the England Fencing youth development training programme as well as in Thame, secured 23rd place in the epee event on Saturday, April 30. Not content with that, he returned on Monday for what was expected to be a tougher foil event and exceeded his épée result with 11th place in the foil. He started strongly, winning five out of six fights in the group stage, only losing to the eventual overall winner of the competition, Jaimie Cook of Scotland.

Hal then fenced through to the last sixteen with a bye in the round of 128, then fighting through a taxing bout in the last 64 – managing his frustration after a couple of early errors and coming back strongly at the end of the fight. His bout at the last 32 stage was a more comfortable 10-2 win, before finally falling short 2-10 in the last 16 to Joseph Blair of Yorkshire who went on to take bronze.

Club coach, James Kingston, said: “I’m thrilled for Hal doing so well in his first appearance at the National Championships – and to do that in two different weapon events is fantastic. He’s worked hard all year and is maturing as a fencer all the time.”