For the 12th year in succession the St Paul Fencing Club organised the “SPFC – Malta Open” which has been growing steadily in popularity among foreign fencers, since the first edition was held in 1998.
This year saw the return of several fencers from British Clubs with the addition of a contingent from Imperial College (London), which meant a greater challenge was presented to all the local fencers keen to do well at the “Open”.
The tournament consisted of five separate individual competitions as well as a mixed team Epee event spread over two full days of quality fencing.
The individual events were Men’s Foil, Epee and Sabre, and women’s foil and Epee.
In the Men’s Foil the Maltese were in their element – the foil being their speciality weapon – and Kurt Mifsud (SPFC) took gold and Paul Vincent Borg (SPFC) took silver. Two other Maltese fencers, Juan Formosa (SPFC) and Matthew Camilleri Fava (EGFC) shared Bronze.
In fencing events, except for the Olympic Games, there is no fight-off for third place. Defending Malta Open Champion (2008) Andre Zahra (SPFC) was beaten by Chris Namih (ICFC) in the tableau of 16.
In the Men’s Epee the British fencers had the upper hand with Chris Gilliam (ICFC) storming to the final after eliminating Scott Willis (15 – 10) and John Clayton (15 – 14), Juan Paz y Mino (Ecuador) eliminated Juan Formosa (15 – 10) in the semis to face Gilliam who took Gold in the final (15 – 9).
Defending Malta Open Sabre Champion, Kevin Alexander, retained his title after beating the versatile Gilliam in the Final, a close – call at 15-11. The best placed Maltese fencers, at joint third, were Juan Formosa and Paul Vincent Borg. This was the second year that Sabre was played at the Open and Maltese fencers have shown a great deal of improvement over a short period of time.
Women’s foil was dominated by Hannah Bryars (ICFC) who showed excellent quality from the preliminary pools right up to the finals where she took Gold from Emily Bottle (15-4). Maltese fencers Caroline Farrugia (SPFC) and Marie-Jo Scicluna (EGFC) shared Bronze.
For Farrugia it was a superb ending to the season since she only started fencing in September 2008. Emily Bottle (ICFC) clinched Gold at Women’s Epee after beating Romualda Vella (EGFC) in the final. Vella’s result was very positive after her recent comeback at ranking tournaments.
The Team Epee which was last on the schedule, served as a “tension-breaker” with each team consisting of mixed nationalities and gender. The winners were Scott Willis, Kevin Alexander and John Clayton with a score of 27-26 against team Pilkington.
The referee appointed for the foil and sabre events was Mr. Juan Paz y Mino, a member of Federazione Italiana Scherma.
Logistics and computer scoring were handled by Nicky Bianchi, Alex Micallef and Ivan Vassallo. Gym set-up and equipment testing were taken care of by Kurt Storace and Danika Formosa.
The SPFC organizing committee thanked Salago.Com, Adeptis Ltd, Mark Borg and St. Thomas Institute for their kind support.
Whilst presenting prizes for the Foil event, J. Formosa Gauci, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, stressed the importance of Sports Tourism and thanked all foreign participants for choosing Malta as a competitive venue and holiday destination.
Results – Top Five
Mens Foil – 1. Kurt Mifsud (MLT), 2. Paul Vincent Borg (MLT), 3. Juan Formosa (MLT), 3. Mathew Camilleri Fava (MLT), 5. Chris Gilliam (GBR).
Men’s Epee – 1. Chris Gilliam (GRB), 2. Juan Paz y Mino (ECU), 3. Juan Formosa (MLT), 3. Scott Willis (GRB), 5. Chris Namih (GRB).
Men’s Sabre – 1. Kevin Alexander (GRB), 2. Chris Gilliam (GRB), 3. Juan Formosa (MLT), 3. Paul Vincent Borg (MLT), 5. Jelhf Beths (Sabre women, GBR).
Ladies Foil – 1. Hannah Bryars (GBR), 2. Emily Bottle (GBR), 3. Caroline Farrugia (MLT), 3. Marie-Jo Scicluna (MLT), 5. Romualda Vella (MLT).
Ladies Epee – 1. Emily Bottle (GRB), 2. Romualda Vella (MLT), 3. Sandra Bottle (GRB), 3. Beth Jelfs (GRB), 5. Caroline Farruagia (MLT).