Final results, WWD Div II/III/Y14 Divisional Qualifier

Kinda eh,
http://askfred.net/Results/roundResults.php?seq=1&event_id=79729&highlight_competitor_id=91067

The two sets of pools was very nice. I got to fence nine people, mostly people I had not fenced before, or only had once or twice. But the two pool format meant, in this case, that of the 32 fencers total the bottom 8 after the pools would not go on to the direct elimination round. And I came in 25th. One spot too low, aaargh. And, in the first pool my epee starting not registering hits, it seemed, and like a fool I didn't ask for a test and change of epee but kept on fencing. After that pool I went and checked it myself and sure enough, the contact spring in the tip was mangled and not working right. Thus my foolishness in continuing to use an obviously bad epee cost me at least 4 points, probably more, and probably at least one win, and, doubtlessly, promotion to the direct elimination round. Then again, had I done better in the first pool round I might have ended up in a different second pool and who knows what it would have turned out.

Well, I guess I learned something—if your weapon seems to not be perfect, ask the ref to check. There's no reason why you shouldn't and every reason to do so. Argh.

On the bright side, after my usual slow and unfocused pool start I got into the groove, especially by the second pool round, which I quite enjoyed.

In the first pool round I fenced Adam Chase (lost 2-5, unfocused brain), then Scott Phillips (lost 3-5, but didn't expect to beat him), then John Comes (won 5-3, to my surprise, and despite a hit or two that didn't register), then Heino Hulsey-Vincent (lost 3-5, but had at least two or three, or four hits that didn't register). For that pool I ended with an indicator of -5, and 4th place. Had I changed weapons like I should have, it probably would have been more like an indicator of about 0 or even +1, and 3rd place.

In the second pool round I fenced Andrew Lee (won 5-4, close!), Tobias Lee (lost 4-5, also close!), Jim Henderson (lost 3-5), Gregory Hopper (won 5-4, close!), and Dan Burke (lost 5-1 in just 28 seconds). Results for me, an indicator of -5 and 5th place. Not great, but taking Tobias to 5-4 and almost getting that last point was fun and the best moment of the tournament. Winning against Andrew Lee was nice too, as he's beaten me before (he earned his E beating me). Losing to Dan Burke didn't feel bad since he's very good and I didn't think I would win anyway—and it was funny how fast it went...at least I scored one point! I felt bad beating Gregory 5-4. He hadn't won a single pool bout and ours was his last, and we got to 4-4. He was frustrated after I scored the final point. I felt bad, but what can you do? We talked after, he seems like a nice guy.

Anyway, so that was it for me. I was a little surprised I didn't get at least 24th place. I thought 3 wins and a good number of 4-5 loses would carry me through. Alas. On the other hand, if I had come in 24th instead, and Nathan Cox, who was 24th, came in 25th instead, my first DE bout would have been against Scott Phillips. So it would have been over soon enough anyway.

I stayed and watched the rest. There were was exciting bouts. Dmitriy was doing well against Scott Phillips, but couldn't sustain it in the end and lost 10-15. "Doc" Jim fenced Andrew Lee with close scores, but couldn't pull ahead before time ran out, losing 10-13. Charlie and Dan Berke went to 11-14, I think, then Charlie scores a series of hits, getting to 14-14, only to lose the final touch. George was doing good against Johannes Klein, but in the third period Johannes seemed to have figured something out and came back to tie 12-12 as time ran out. Sudden death priority went to George, but Johannes managed a single light hit and won, 13-12.

Charlie and Jim Henderson

George and Johannes Klein

Tobias fenced Scott Phillips to a very close 15-14 win (I didn't see much of that bout). Matthew Comes and Dan Berke fenced on the raised strip, battling hard, with Dan winning 15-11. Jeramy fenced Johannes, after Johannes had won against George. By this point Johannes was clearly tired and Jeramy took an early lead that got quite big. As Johannes did when he fenced George, during the third period he seemed to figure something out and scored a lot of hits, but couldn't recover the early losses. Jeramy won 15-10.

Then the final four—Tobias took out Dan Berke handily, 15-8. This was interesting to see given how hard Dan Berke had been for me in the pools, and for other people, like Charlie. And also made me feel even better about having almost beaten Tobias in the pools. Then Jeramy fenced Aaron Page. The winner would go on to fence Tobias for first place. I thought Jeramy had the advantage, but Aaron found stamina and insight somewhere, fencing with amazing speed and power. Over and over he managed to push Jeramy's blade aside and very quickly close distance to infighting conditions, or nearly so, where Jeramy's long reach did no good. Aaron won 15-12. Watching it was like a lesson in "how to fence a tall person".

So the final bout was between Tobias and Aaron, both of the Tacoma club and friends. They fenced hard, and laughed and joked while they did. Aaron but up a good fight, but Tobias won 15-12. Then I felt even yet better about having done well against him in the pools. Still, 25th place, argh!

Equipment ready for tourny

Yesterday I rewired two epees at home, but lacking the equipment for doing the final tweaks to the tips and springs I couldn't quite get them tournament ready. So today I went into the club to finish up. Happily, both epees seem to work, somewhat to my surprise—I've only rewired one epee before and was not confident I had done it quite right. I adjusted the tips, which was simple once I realized that lengthening the contact spring was the opposite of what you need to do when the light goes off with the shim in. I seem to be ready, equipment-wise, for tomorrow.

But am I ready physically? Mentally? Well, physically, sure—so far I've never found tournaments more tiring than regular open fencing practice; perhaps because I tend to get eliminated early, but then again, I wasn't particularly tired at the end of the SAS U tournament in which I fenced four or five (or six?) direct elimination bouts. Mentally though... After fixing my epees today I watched a bit of today's tournament—women's epee, men's foil, some saber—and noted how different the mood is from open fencing practice. I've only seen one other major tournament at my club (the Leon Open), and I've only been to other clubs for tournaments. So seeing a big tournament at my club was quite the contrast with the regular mood there. Everyone was focused and trying their best, and everything was more formal, with refs calling out scores and directions, some of them doing it in French. The tables with the equipment testing gear, paperwork, the coaches advising and encouraging, and so on.

After being in a number of tournament this last year—how many? over ten for sure—I still find I have some trouble finding mental focus in the midst of all the tournament stuff. It will help, I think, that this one is at my own club, where I feel at home, and that there will be a bunch of people I know pretty well—both fencing in the tournament and helping run it. Still, how to achieve the proper focus in the middle of all the tournament formality, equipment tests, bout schedules, etc? A while ago I mentioned to Mikol how I had not yet been very tired after a tournament—joking about how I'm usually eliminated early—and he responded "then you're not working hard enough in the pool bouts". Hmm, he's right. Part of that is because during the pools I find it tricky to get focused, or get focused just at the end of each pool bout, as they are only to five points. I often end up starting pool bouts not being sure what to do. Hmmm......

Cracked blade, brand new out of the box!

There's a tournament at SAS this Sunday I probably can attend. So of course I broke a blade last Sunday. It was the one that always wanted to bend the wrong way, so I was constantly straightening it. Last Sunday, before I even started fencing, I gave it a little straightening bend and snap, about two inches of blade broke off in my hand. Drat. Luckily, I had ordered two new blades and wires a few days earlier, in part because it is always smart to have extras on hand and in part because another epee seemed close to failing (although I think it's just a failed wire, so I should be able to rewire the blade).

Anyway, the two new blades arrived the other day, from Blue Gauntlet. I opened the tube box today, ready to start wiring, and what do you know, one of the blades has a nasty crack in the steel. Nice work, Blue Gauntlet! I just sent them an email with these photos. Generally, blades are not refundable or exchangeable, for obvious reasons, but when they come cracked out of the box, I assume an exception is made. An exception better be made!

At least the second blade looks fine, so I should be able to get two epees working by Sunday for the tournament. I'll probably need to futz with the tip before the tournament in the club armory, since I don't have shims or weighs or proper testing equipment. But that should, in theory, be a quick adjustment. The club might be rather chaotic before the tournament though. Hopefully I'll be able to access the armory.