FOR the third year running, King Edward VI School has won all three age group titles at the British School Team Championships held at Millfield School in Somerset.
The under 18 boys’ sabre A team – made up of Zachary Hamilton, Joe Pocknell and Barnaby Halliwell – comfortably won all of their pool matches to go into the semi-finals as top seeds.
The A team showed their quality to defeat hosts Millfield School and the KES B team showed real fighting quality to defeat a strong Whitgift School team in the other semi-final, generating an all-KES gold medal match.
The A team proved too strong for the Bs and emerged champions as KES finished with the gold and silver medals.
In the U18 girls’ competition, a young KES team made up of Isla Chaplin, Shirin Anari and Ellie Jackson were able to win the bronze medal.
KES continued its tradition of dominance in the U15 age group as the A team composed of Felix Crabtree, Oliver Edwardes, Anuj Mathur and Louis Bedford won all of their fights in their round-robin competition to emerge as the clear winners of the competition.
The B team – comprised of Oliver Dickson, George Mynors and Mustafa Ali – won one of their matches and finished with the bronze medal.
In the under 13 boys’ sabre competition the A team consisting of Gabriel Orme, Joshua Mitchell, Charlie Dickson and William Bobe progressed to the knockouts as top seeds in a large pool of competitors.
In the semi-finals, the A team were given a strong challenge by Sussex House School, but were able to come through it to reach the final.
The KES C team, meanwhile, succumbed agonisingly to Millfield School 45-44 to finish with the bronze medal.
In the final, the A team showed their class and quality, controlling the entirety of the match against a very strong Millfield team to take the title.
Head coach Rob Cawdron said: “To win all three boys’ age groups is special. To have now repeated that success for the third year in a row is a real testament to the commitment to high standards and consistent success of the fencing programme at King Edward VI School.”
In other fencing news, KES year 12 student Joe Pocknell represented Great Britain at the European Cadet Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
He claimed fourth place in the team event and impressively ended the season ranked 13th in Europe.
