TOP RESULT FOR MARCUS MEPSTEAD
With a stunning 8th place in the 240-strong Koblenz international
cadet (under-17) foil tournament in December, 13-year-old
Marcus Mepstead has booked his place in the World Youth Championships,
where he may well be Britain’s youngest ever male competitor.
Fencing since the age of eight at Salle Paul, Marcus has
won the U10, U12 and U14 age-group championships and was 3rd
in the 2003 cadet championship. In 2001 he came 2nd in the
U12 Dieppe youth tournament and in 2002 he won the U14 Den
Haag event.
He went to Koblenz with the top three British cadets, Steven
Glaister, Andrew Caldwell and brother Alexander Mepstead,
who came 33rd, 40th and 22nd respectively. Marcus’s
first fight in the L64 was against the No.2 ranked German
Dominik Haug, whom he beat 15-10. He then lost 12-15 to Nicolas
Coradin (FRA) and went into the repechage system, where he
faced Tilo Espenhahn (GER), beating him 15-11 to proceed to
the L32. Here he met the No. 1 Hungarian, Adam Dubecz, and
beat him comfortably 15-7, but still had another fight to
reach the L16. Johann Gustinelli (GER) proved to be a little
more difficult and they were 13-all at time. Since Gustinelli
had priority, Marcus had to attack and with a fleche scored
the hit.
He then lost to Philip Eschrich 7-15 and was thrown back
into the repechage for a second time. A marathon fight ensued
against Pierre St Bonnet (FRA), which again ended on time
at 11-all. Summoning all his concentration, Marcus executed
a precise counter-attack to secure himself a L8 place, where,
utterly exhausted, he lost to Tomas Stanek (GER) 2-15. A heroic
effort by the 13-year-old against taller and more experienced
opponents.
|
