A fantastic gold medal
Sundaysaw Arthur Eakin win a fantastic gold medal in the U14 men's foil at the first event of the Yorkshire League, particularly impressive as Arthur is still an U13. Arthur would be eligible to enter in any event, as the latest of a number of our fencers to train additionally at Sheffield Buccaneers, but the Yorkshire League has, for the first time, also thrown open its doors to fencers from the East Midlands, North East and North West regions.
In the poule, Arthur beat Andrew Clarke of Salle Scipanovs (from Chester) 5-2, Edward Lusted of Harrogate 5-3, Henry Shirt 5-3 of Barnsley and Billy Levick of Sheffield Hallam 5-0, losing only to his sparring partner at Buccaneers, Finnian Zaffino, 1-5. Arthur had lost to Lusted and Levick in previous competitions, so this was a good effort. This left Arthur 3rd in the rankings, with a bye in L16. He made no mistake in L8 against Henry Shirt, with a convincing 15-4 win. Arthur was a little nervous against Callum Evans in the semi final. Evans has an excellent record and Arthur has struggled against him in the past (including a 2-5 loss last weekend in the poule). But Arthur was composed and came out with a very pleasing 15-10 win. He then faced sparring partner Finnian Zaffino in the final. Arthur had never beaten Finn in a competition before but this time pulled out hidden reserves in a tense but exciting 15-12 win to bring home a first medal (gold!) of 2019.
