Club’s cadets march on
With the 2023-24 domestic Cadet (U17) ranking season finished, and with last season’s carry-over points removed (and other nationalities in the rankings taken out of the equation), we now know where our fencers are ranked based solely on their performances in the British Ranking Competitions (BRCs) this season. A roll on the drums, please…
GIRLS:
6th Eilidh Paterson (10,575 points)
19th Andrea Ross (5,534)
22nd Izzie D’Abbraccio (4,994)
32nd Daisy Beadsworth (3,403)
33rd Hiba Rochdi (3,280)
34th Annabelle Lavin (2,889)
53rd Hannah Taylor (656)*
* Didn’t do half of the ranking comps
BOYS:
8th Lloyd Osborne (12,097)
40th Zach Bench (2,768)
75th Alec Hargreaves (652)
These rankings could change a bit before the end of the season due to European events in Copenhagen, Bratislava, Belgrade and Krakow (Eilidh and Lloyd will be selected for all of these comps), as well as the European & World Champs. However, as it’s only the top few fencers in action the resulting changes will be limited to a potential reshuffle at the top of the tree.
Starter’s orders
Assuming the rankings stay more-or-less the same, and that British Fencing won’t tinker with the selection system, we can guesstimate in what ranking positions our continuing Cadet fencers will start the 2024-25 season by doing the following:
- Removing the final-year Cadets (born 2007) from the projected rankings;
- Factoring in the 35% carry-over of this season’s points to next season; and
- Predicting which fencers with an U14 transition bonus for making the podium at the British Youth Championships (BYCs) in April/May 2024 could leapfrog their way up the rankings.
With this in mind, the guesstimated positions are:
GIRLS:
2nd Eilidh (3,701)
11th Andrea (1,936)
14th Izzie (1,749)
24th-26th Daisy (1,191)
25th-27th Hiba (1,148)
BOYS:
3rd Lloyd (4,233)
23rd-26th Zach (968)
45th-48th Alec (228)*
* Could be as high as 1,500 if he wins the BYC U14 title, and his ranking could be as high as 20th.
Places mean prizes?
Not exactly: places mean ranking points, and ranking points can mean selection. This season (2023-24), British Fencing selected the top 20 Cadet boys and girls in the British rankings for the first nominated European Cadet Circuit event of the season (usually Budapest, in October), then 14 for the next three events, then they’ll select at least 10 for the next two or three events. They also designate some non-travelling reserves, who are then invited in order if selected fencers decline their places – which does happen (in the case of Klagenfurt this season, 8 female Cadets declined). These European events have a selection point, which is often 6 weeks before the event itself. The selections ‘lock in’ at the selection point regardless of any ranking position changes that occur in that 6-week window due to BRCs taking place.
Incredibly, RTWFC has a shot at making up about 20% of the British Euro Cadet Circuit team next season! Lloyd and Eilidh are in strong positions, and just with carry-over alone will be selected for the first Euro Cadet Circuit of next season. This season, at the first selection point, the 20th fencer in the rankings had around 2,200 points (Girls) and 2,800 points (Boys). So, how does one accumulate these points?
The BRCs are either A or B grades. If you finish 1st at an A grade it scores about 4,000 points; 3rd is about 2,800; 8th 2,200; 16th 1,500; 32nd 1,100, and so on. The B grades scores only half of these points. Note that you have to finish in the top 80% to score more than 1 point at a BRC, and only your top 6 finishes count towards your ranking points total.
With two B grades usually held before the first selection point in the season (typically, this is early September), and top 32 finishes in both, our fencers can add 1,200 points to their total, while two last 16s will add 1,800. If you start the season with carry-over of about 1,000, two top 16 finishes should be enough to secure selection for the first Euro Cadet event of the season. The Cadet National Champs, which is an A grade, provides the opportunity to add as many points in one go as two B grades put together – but you’ll need to be top 14 in the rankings after the Nationals to be sure of a second selection. The points difference between 20th and 14th can be as much as 2,000, so if you start the season outside the top 20, you may well need three last-16 finishes in a row to make inroads into the top 20.
In this respect, it is crucial that you beat your closest rivals when you fence them – especially in direct elimination bouts, because if you knock them out you’ll score more points than them and can either overtake them in the rankings (if they’re ahead) or stay ahead of them (if they’re behind).
It’s in Europe at the comps that BF nominates for selection that you can really start racking up the points: finishing 64th will score about 3,500 points, and winning will score 20,000 points or more. Wowser!
Tomorrow, the world?
Looking ahead to the finale of next season, Eilidh and Lloyd could even be selected to fence for GBR at the European and World Championships – that would be a massive first for the club. But how?
Well, the BRCs exist to help British Fencing decide who to select for the Euro Cadet Circuit comps it nominates, and the results from these comps are then used by BF to decide which 3-4 fencers to select for the Cadet European and World Championships. It’s not decided on ranking points, though. Instead, selection for these two ‘apex’ events currently has three ‘tiers’:
- Win an individual medal at a Cadet Circuit event nominated by BF (versus 200-300 of the best U17 fencers in Europe and beyond – it’s a European Circuit but it’s open to fencers from any country);
- Finish in the top 8 per cent of a nominated Euro Circuit comp; or
- Have an average of finishing in the top 35 per cent over your three best finishes at nominated comps during the Euro season.
In fact, Lloyd is two-thirds qualified for the Euro and World Champs this season in terms of the third criterion, but there are 2 fencers with medals already this season, leaving Lloyd – a mid-year Cadet – in a potential scrap with the 4 other fencers in contention for the final places – and it’s his GCSE year, so Lloyd is focused on achieving World selection next season rather than this season. Smart, Lloyd!
Forging ahead
How far we’ve come since the world rebooted after the various lockdowns. Benedict Graham, Miles Raymond, Lloyd and Eilidh blazed a trail last season by being the first RTW lions to be selected to fence for Britain – a dream that started during online footwork classes during lockdowns and which was sparked by the fencers’ desire to ‘really go for it’ when they got the chance to fence again. As a result of these inspiring – and fiendishly difficult to beat – fencers at the club, the next wave of RTWFC’s international aspirants has really benefitted from training with them due to their international cutting edge. Praise be to the pioneers!
Back to this season, and a couple of examples of how well some of our fencers have progressed this year. In February, Andrea was beaten 15-9 in the U16 final of the Regional Championships: at the Cadet BRC in London on 2nd December, Andrea fenced the same opponent – and won 15-4! In May, Eilidh was bested in the British Youth Championship U14 final by a score of 15-12: at the Cadet BRC in London, she beat the same adversary by a score of 15-7! That’s progress, people.
I’d like to thank my mother…
A massive thanks to all of our Cadet fencers on their fantastic focus this season – both in training and at competitions: your commitment and camaraderie has been first class. Thanks also to all of the parents for their tireless support, coaches William Don, James and Gerry for their expertise, committee members Val, Simon, Amy and Maria for policing their patch, Don again for armoury services, James again for being our ‘designated’ referee, Rob with his ‘sounding board services’ for our S&C plans, and Martin ‘on drums’. Together, we have made all of this possible. What a club!