The annual July Challenge (or Summer NAC) took place over 6 days from July 1st to 6th. This large competition took place alongside the US National Championships, which will continue along to the 10th. These 6 days saw many BC athletes from both Dynamo Fencing Club and La Salle. The competition concluded with some impressive results from our BC athletes, and below you may find some of the highlights from this year’s July Challenge courtesy of our hardworking team! Congratulations to everyone who competed, and go BC!

Cadet Men’s Epee – Howard Zhao – 5th and Seraphim Hsieh Jarov  – 17th

Cadet Women’s Epee – Christina Zozulya – 17th

Junior Men’s Epee – Seraphim Hsieh Jarov – 10th

Junior Women’s Epee – Christina Zozulya  – 21st

Div 1 Men’s Epee – Farooq Habib – 39th

Senior Team Men’s Epee – (Dylan French, Igor Gantsevich, Seraphim Hsieh Jarov, Howard Zhao) – 16th

For full competition results, visit: http://www.usfencing.org/2017champ-julychal

Continue reading →

June 24th and 25th marked the 2017 BC Senior Provincial Championships: A weekend full of thrilling bouts and passionate fencing.

With fencers from 18 different clubs from all over BC and the west coast of the United States, the level of competition was sure to be high. Individuals competing out of Dynamo, Tri-City Fencing Academy, Meadowridge Fencing Club, Washington Fencing Academy, Metro Tacoma Fencing Club, Capital City Fencers Club, La Salle Fencing Club, North Vancouver Fencing Club, Okanagan Freestyle Fencing, Vernon Fencing Club, Delta Fencing Club, Musketeers Fencing Society, University of Victory Fencing Club, Victoria Fencing Club, UBC, Bellingham Bay Fencing Association, Salle Auriol Seattle, and Rain City Fencing Club all contributed to this weekend’s excitement. Such a large turnout has made this year’s senior provincials even more successful than the youth provincials earlier in the month.

Day 1 of the competition was a fully-packed day, which included events such as: Cadet Mixed Epee, Cadet Mixed Foil, Cadet Mixed Sabre, Junior Mixed Foil, Junior Mixed Sabre, Senior Mixed Epee, and Veteran Mixed Epee.

The day began with Senior Mixed Epee at 8:00am. With a total of 35 men and women within this first event, this was the largest event of the weekend and thus a fantastic start to the competition. After a long couple of hours of fencing through poules and the DE’s to follow, the top 4 finalists included Isaac Velestuk (DYN), Farooq Habib (DYN), Caleb McIntosh (VFC), and Dylan French (DYN). Accepting the bronze medals were Isaac Velestuk (DYN) and Caleb McIntosh (VFC), both fighting well for their chances to make it to the final. The final took place between Dylan French (DYN) and Farooq Habib (DYN), concluding with a score of 15-9 for French.

Next up was the Junior Mixed Sabre event. The 6-person event included competitors from both Dynamo Fencing Club and Tri-City Fencing Association. The top 8 DE’s resulted in a guaranteed Dynamo sweep into the top 4 round. The bronze medals were taken home by Clement Cheung (DYN) and Alex Lin (DYN). The gold medal round was fenced between Oscar Zhao (DYN) and Alex Sun (DYN), with a 15-9 win for Zhao.

With the first two events of the competition completed, the next group of fencers were eager to begin their own. At 12:00pm, multiple events were scheduled to begin, including: Cadet Mixed Foil, Cadet Mixed Sabre, Cadet Mixed Epee, and Veteran Mixed Epee.

Cadet Mixed Foil was comprised of 11 fencers from Tri-City Fencing Academy, La Salle Fencing Club, Dynamo Fencing Club, North Vancouver Fencing Club, and Meadowridge Fencing Club. Teammates Michelle Wang (TFA) and Sabrina Fang (TFA) received equal bronze medals, thus resulting in another final between Lucas Sings (DYN) and Adam Wong (DYN). The hard-fought bout closed with a 15-9 win for Sings over Wong.

Cadet Mixed Sabre ran alongside the foil event with 7 fencers. Nathan Go (MDR) AND Thomas Greenwood (TFA) were presented with the bronze medals after two well-fought DE’s. The final bout between two Dynamo fencers resulted in a 15-10 victory for Alex Sun against Alex Lin.

Cadet Mixed Epee was the third biggest event of the weekend with 16 competitors. Many nail-biting bouts were displayed all the way through to the final between Dylan Gibson (DYN) and David Guo (DYN). Gibson took home the gold medal with a 15-14 win over Guo. The bronze medals were awarded to Kent-masakazu Kotaka (DYN) and Zhi Yin Zhang (TFA).

During the Veteran Mixed Epee event we saw seasoned fencers from a plethora of clubs, including: Dynamo Fencing Club, Okanagan Freestyle Fencing, Delta Fencing Club, La Salle Fencing Club, Vernon Fencing Club, Musketeers Fencing Society, Salle Auriol Seattle, and Rain City Fencing Club. The bronze medals were equally earned by Bob Noble (DYN) and Brendan Robertson (VER). The gold medal bout between Bela Suveg (DYN) and Andrew Schulz (MFS) ended with a 10-1 victory for Suveg.

To conclude the 2017 BC Senior Provincials, the Junior Mixed Foil event began. With only 5 competitors in this final event, it was a quick finish to the long day of competition. After the first round of DEs, the bronze medals were set in place for Leon Yao (UBC) and Julian Zhu (La Salle). To conclude the first day of provincials, the final gold medal bout between Lucas Sings (DYN) and Sabrina Fang (TFA) resulted in a 15-9 victory for Sings.

For full results from Day 1 of the 2017 BC Senior Provincial Championships, please visit: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=36773&highlight_competitor_id=&event_id=145534

The second day of the BC Youth Provincial Championships started bright and early on Sunday morning (8:00am to be exact). With fencers warming up and volunteer referees at the ready, day 2 was in full swing with Y10 Men’s Foil, Y10 Women’s Foil, and Y12 Mixed Epee.

Y10 Men’s Foil brought together 11 boys to compete for their chance to bring home a gold medal. The bronze medals, however, were awarded to Ahmed Elbassiouny (CCFC) and Charlie Chen (DYN) after two hard fought bouts in the top 4. The gold medal match was between Adrian Wong (DYN) and Nicholas Zhang (DYN), resulting in a 10-5 win for Zhang, and a silver medal for Wong.

The Y12 Mixed Epee event ran simultaneously, and with 20 fencers competing for the title of Provincial Champion, this was the second largest event from the weekend. This event showcased fencers from a handful of different clubs from all over the province. The gold medal match was fenced between Sean Hulka (OFF) and Yao Rong (DYN), resulting in a final score of 15-10 for Rong, leaving Hulka with the silver medal. The bronze medals were well fought for and awarded to Brent Sean (OFF) and Christopher Vermeulen (OFF).

Initially listed as a mixed Y10 foil event, enough girls showed up and registered on Sunday morning to form the Y10 Women’s Foil event. So, with 8 competitors at the ready, the women’s event commenced alongside the Men’s foil event. Amy Xu (DYN) and Heather Zhang (DYN) finished their event with bronze medals, falling just short of the gold medal match. The final was fenced between teammates Alissa Pan (DYN) and Alyssa An (DYN), and with a 10-7 victory, Alyssa An took home the gold medal.

As the day continued, so did the action! Y10 Mixed Epee, Y14 Mixed Foil, and Y10 Mixed Sabre were yet to come.

Y10 Mixed Epee consisted of 6 fencers, each coming from a different club, including: Beverly Hills Fencers, Dynamo Fencing Club, Beairsto School, Vernon Fencing Club, Okanagan Freestyle Fencing, and Tri-City Fencing Academy. Blake Frost (BEA) and Liam King (VER) grasped the two bronze medals, whilst Anders Lee (DYN) and Imran Zakariyya Latif (BHFC) proceeded into the gold medal bout. The final bout resulted in a 10-7 win for Latif over Lee for the gold medal.

Y14 Mixed foil was a fantastic event to amp up the excitement, even as the competition was beginning to wrap up! With a good number of 13 fencers ready to work hard to claim the title of Provincial Champion, the second-last event began. The cacophony of coaches and cheering crowd could be heard from all corners of the venue throughout the direct eliminations. However, it all came down to the medal round, with Mitchell Hui (TFA) and Avery Townsend (RCFC) taking home the bronze medals. Moving forward to the gold medal match, we saw Lucas Sings (DYN) against Adam Wong (DYN), with a final score of 15-11 and a gold medal for Sings.

The final event of the BC Youth Provincial Championships was Y10 Mixed Sabre, and with only these last 4 fencers competing, the competition was drawing to a close. The sabre event slashed straight onwards to the top 4 direct eliminations with two fencers from Tri-City Fencing Academy, and two from Meadowridge Fencing Club. Taking the equal bronze medal place were Liam Bradley (MDR) and JiaLiang Han (MDR). Last, but certainly not least, the Y10 Mixed Sabre final: With a 10-6 victory for Alexander Serves (TFA) over teammate Jason Qin (TFA),  the last gold medal of the BC Youth Provincial Championships was awarded.

For full results from all of the weekend’s events, visit: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=36763&highlight_competitor_id=&event_id=145508