The Hillcrest Fencing Club hosted a KZN Closed Fencing competition on Saturday 14 September, with entries received from the province’s two clubs, University of KZN and Hillcrest.
The event was held at Hillcrest High School, with 29 competitors ranging in age from 10 to 66 years old.
While there was some great fencing in the senior men’s and ladies’ sabre and epee events, the highlight of the competition was the talent displayed by the younger fencers who participated in two highly contested junior categories.
Aaron Smith of Highbury Preparatory School won the U11 Epee, with Alec Steyn (Hillcrest Primary School) coming in second. Blake Stuart (Highbury Preparatory School) and Karl Berger (Tree Tops School) shared third position.
This was the first competition for all of these fencers. Fen Stewart and Nimai Naidoo, both from Roseway Waldorf, also competed in the U11 Epee and showed remarkable improvement during the course of the competition.
The mixed Cadet Epee event saw Kai Stewart (Roseway Waldorf) take the top position from James Gibson (Winston Park Primary), with Stephanie Cotterill (St Mary’s DSG) and Alexandra Gibson (Hillcrest High School) placing joint third.
The senior men’s sabre event was a hotly contested battle, as KZN are the current SA champions having won the national team sabre title earlier this year. The national team representing KZN at the National competition consisted of Aydar Zabbarov, Eugene Neethling and Mitchum Blakeman, all of whom were on the piste at this event.
It was also fantastic to see Nkosingiphile Bhengu take second place in the men’s senior epee event, as he has only been fencing for two months.
For anyone interested in joining the Hillcrest Fencing Club, there are training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening between 5:30pm and 7:30pm at the Centenary Hall at Highbury Preparatory School. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, visit www.fencingkzn.co.za.
