Day 9 saw the start of the cadets events, and what a start it was! After some mixed results in the poules, Sameer Sunder-Rajan knocked out the no.1 seed in the L16 and then proceeded to dispatch yet more higher ranked fencers to eventually meet the GBR no.1 in the final. This was going to be a tough ask; Sameer acquitted himself admirably and came away with a well-deserved Silver medal after losing the final 6-15.
In the CME team event, a 45-33 victory over New Zealand in the L8 was built on strong performances across the team. Cai Eastwood, Rhys Jackson and Sameer Sunder-Rajan all made strong contributions to this result, leading from the first fight to the last. Next came the sturdier task of England, boasting the full GBR Cadet World Championship team. Despite a gutsy performance, this was a bridge too far for the boys, eventually going down 33-45, but nevertheless, a Bronze medal to be proud of, including our guest epeeist for the day, Theo Eggar, supporting the team admirably in ensuring we had 4 fencers in the box!
Following a strong performance in the juniors, it was now time for Georgia Howes to show what she could do in her natural cadet age-group. A disappointing set of poule fights led to a tough fight in the L32, but Georgia came flying through 15-4. It only got tougher, with a L16 tie against the GBR no.1. A simply superb performance saw her win 15-9 against this top-quality opponent but a L8 tie against another GBR fencer proved too much. Despite going down 2-15, a day to be proud of!
In CMS, Jacob Wahl-Byde delivered a confident performance to win his L32, leading to a tough match against the no.5. He fought brilliantly to win 15-13 which meant a L8 match against the no.4 which he just missed out on, losing 11-15. Solid results across the board for the rest of the team boded well for the team event, and so it proved.
Needing to beat a strong Scotland team, the boys really performed when it mattered. Seb Evans-Reeves, Bobby Childs, Felix Groves and Jacob Wahl-Byde built up a lead throughout the match, and despite a strong comeback from the Scots in the last 2 rounds, was enough to see them through to a semi-final against England. The English were too strong, but the boys acquitted themselves well, eventually losing 18-45, so they had to be content with a well-deserved Bronze medal
In the CWE, after a full set of wins in her poule, Amelie Russell went into the DE’s with a rank of 2. In the L32 and L16, she quickly dispatched her opponents, and in the L8 came up against a strong Malaysian fencer. Trailing for most of the fight, she clawed her way into a slim lead in the 2nd period, but the break came just at the wrong time, and her opponent regathered to eventually take the win 14-15.
For the CWE team event, solid performances from Amelia Cattanach and Eloise Russell in the individuals helped ensure a rank of 5 going into the L8. In a tight match, the Welsh girls were a few hits ahead until the 8th round, when a strong New Zealander brought the scores back level to 36-36. A lot of nerve-jangling and nail-biting ensued, but Amelie Russell eventually brought it home 9-8 in the final round, guaranteeing a Bronze medal for the team. They then had to face a very strong Canadian team, and trailed throughout the match, going down 22-45. This was despite a cameo from Georgia Howes, returning the favour of the support given to the sabre team. Forsaking the cut of the sabre for the thrust of an epee, she scored probably the best foot-hit of the day, and as an honorary epeeist comes home with a well-deserved Bronze medal.