GOLD MEDALS FOR DONAGHUE AND BELBOUAB
GBR foilists Joe Donaghue and Mohammed Belbouab won gold at EFC competitions in Antony and Samorin, respectively.
Last weekend saw two GBR foilists, Joe Donaghue and Mohammed Belbouab, claim victory at their respective international events. Joe won gold at the EFC Eurofence league competition in Antony, France, and Mohammed at the EFC Cadet competition in Samorin, Slovakia.
The competition in Antony featured a field of 174 fencers. After winning all of his poule fights, Joe was seeded 4th and earned a bye to the last 128. After defeating Thomas Dijkstra (NED) 15-8, he went up against two GBR teammates: Jake Hurst and Luca Florea. After defeating them 15-9 and 15-2, Joe clinched a series of 15-14 victories against French fencers on his way to the gold. He first faced Eliot Kerneiss in the last 32, followed by Jules Andriamampianina in the last 16. After earning a place in the podium matches, he defeated Adrien Helmy-Cocoynacq 15-11.
In the final, Joe faced Meddy Elice (FRA) and, with a 15-11 score, Joe emerged victorious. The victory follows Joe’s recent success at the FIE Senior Foil Satellite in Timisoara, Romania, in which he also won gold.
After his win, Joe said:
“I won Timisoara and Antony for my gran. Thank you to my teammate Rafael Rhys Pollitt for going above and beyond at both of these competitions. Thank you to my mum and to my coaches, Michael and Ziemek.”
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Click here to view the full results from Antony.
In a field of 228 fencers, Mohammed likewise took the crown for GBR in Samorin. He won all of his poule fights and was seeded 17th going into the direct elimination rounds. After earning a bye into the last 128, he defeated Abdulrahman Poorgharib (QAT) with a strong 15-6 win. Next followed a series of decisive victories, defeating Italy’s Niccolo Cecconi 15-4 and Qatar’s 15-3 Abdullah Darak. In the last 16, Mohammed next defeated 1st seed Marco Bertossi (ITA) 15-8 to take him through to the quarterfinals. Afterwards, he defeated Balazs Banhidi (HUN) 15-5 to earn a place on the podium. Mohammed then faced Adham Eldeeb (QAT) and defeated him 15-7 to reach the final.
The fight for gold was against Luca Guidi (ITA), and with a 15-12 score, Mohammed emerged victorious.
Mohammed said about his win:
“It feels really amazing to win, as it was one of my goals for this season. For it to happen so early makes me really happy, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season! I’d like to thank my parents for getting me here, my coach Ziemek for supporting me and my GBR teammates who stayed to support.”
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Referee Sam Ogden also represented GBR at the event.