SAS Open Mixed Epee

http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=24373

Did depressingly bad. Lost all bouts. Came in 2nd last. Couldn't get into the zone and as I kept losing fell into a defeatist mindset. Managed to start my DE with a better mindset, but lost all the same.

My pool: George Raush, managed 3 points to his 5. Hans Engel, not much hope there, he won the tournament. I got 2 points to his 5. One was a double touch and the other was a questionable call. Hans had fleched, I parried and he missed, and I riposted as he ran by. My riposte turned into a long reaching backward stretch that by chance more than anything else happened to hit him well after he had passed. Toby was the ref (we were "self-reffing"). He thought about it. I was unsure and if pressed probably would have said no. Hans clearly didn't think so either. But Toby gave me the point, saying it was a "long and slow" riposte but it was "one action" and you do get one chance in such a situation. In my mind I was uncertain whether it was really one action. I tried riposting as Hans went by but missed, and my attempt become the "long slow" thing. Was it two actions or one long one? I'm still not sure. It made little difference in any case, as Hans is so much better than me. Garrett Armstrong, a young, small U from RCFC. I watched others beat him and thought I had a good chance, but I lost, 5-2. I was the only person in our pool Garrett beat. Then again, later he went on to beat Jer Gee in the DEs and came in 8th, jumping from a U to a C. Tobias Lee, who I warmed up with and always enjoy fencing. This bout was perhaps the high point of the tournament, when I was up 4-3. But then, even with a 2 point lead and only 1 needed to win, Toby scored twice and won. One of those points was a bad move on my part, when I tried advancing in 4, hoping he'd attack in 6 and I'd close him out, but he simply picked my hand, which was exposed for the 4 guard, damn. On the other hand, one of my hit on him was pretty lucky—after a bit of action he made a rapid retreat, like he does, and I made a long lunge and just barely hit him on the hand. Pretty lucky. Matthew Comes, well, he's just damn good, and will probably become extremely good once he's in his 20s, if he keeps it up. He fleches like a rocket out of nowhere, straight-in from a distance and still surprising. I lost 5-1. The only positive thing was after having watched him score toe touches on everyone else, including Hans, and sometimes more than one toe touch in a 5 point bout, I was determined not to fall prey to it. He made a couple of attempts but I was ready and escaped each time. I wasn't able to score, although I tried to get his shoulder. He's just too fast. He also got me once with one of his crazy over the head, behind the back infighting things. I didn't mean to get that close as I knew he'd do that. Ah well. Mark Blom, who defeated me very quickly the last time we fenced, but this time took longer, and I got 2 points to his 5. At one point Mark went for a toe touch and missed as I withdrew my foot and went for his shoulder. He immediately raised his epee up and hit me perfectly on the wrist before I could reach his shoulder. It was an amazing move. I said something like "wow, very nice", and he said it was a "lucky hit". Lucky or not it certainly looked perfect.

Bad pool meant I got the 2nd lowest seed. I feared my DE would be against one of the super fencers, like Jay, John Varney, Hans, or John McDonald. But it was Carlo Malaguzzi, who in theory I had a chance against. I even had taken notes about him at a previous tournament and formulated a plan. My notes said, basically: "strong, distance! can prep w/ 'tells', attack into. likes to fleche but if caught, blam. patience, wear him out, get him frustrated. impulsive." Well, he was fencing quite well today. If his preparations had "tells" they were hard to see, although I did manage several double touches by attacking into his attacks. I expected him to fleche a lot, but he fleched even more than I expected, and I was usually either just slightly too close or just slightly too slow with my parries and/or counterattacks. I lost 15-8. Not even close.

Normally I am able to avoid feeling too bad when I do poorly, but today had had a bit of a depressing start to it before I even went to the tournament, and getting so thoroughly crushed left me feeling pretty down. I stayed and watched a bit while I cooled off, then changed and left long before the tournament was over—something else I usually don't do. Usually staying and watching helps me get over losing, but I didn't have it in me today and it was getting late and I thought I ought to go home and help with the kids and such.

I saw the very end of Charlie's bout with Toby Lee. It was 14-13, Toby, when I came by, then Charlie scored making it 14-14, and scored again, winning. He was quite pleased. Unfortunately he had to face John Varney next. I didn't see that bout but the results show Varney winning 15-14. So close. Perhaps the main result for my club friends was George. He started his DEs beating Chris Winters 15-10, then Mark Blom 13-7. Then he had to face Jay Slater and lost 15-9. However, by winning two DEs he got into the final 8 and thus earned his C, jumping straight from his E rating. He and Charlie and Russ apparently went out to celebrate afterward. I kinda wish I had stuck around and gone with them—it would have done a lot to improve my mood, no doubt. Perhaps next time I feel like I ought to go home to help with the kids I'll call and see if I really have to. Apparently I didn't really have to today.

So, ah well, another crushing defeat. It mostly makes me want to try all the harder. There's a vet event this Thursday, so the next one is already lined up.