OLYMPIC FENCERS
Britain’s No. 1 foilist, Richard Kruse, 21, reached
the final tableau in his first Olympics – the best British
men’s foil achievement since Bill Hoskyns 40 years ago.
Seeded 24th, Kruse knocked out the No. 9 seed, Wang (CHI),
15-11 in the L32 and then the American Dan Kellner 15-14 after
coming back from 12-14 down to clinch a place in the quarter-finals
against the No. 1 seed, Andrea Cassara of Italy. The Italian,
although only 20 years old, was a bronze medallist last year
and came into the Olympics ranked No. 2 in the world. Kruse
was 89th. The difference between them is not as great as it
seems, since Kruse has beaten Cassara before, but this time
the Italian quickly stamped his authority on the fight to
lead 6-0. Although Kruse matched him hit for hit in the second
part of the fight, the gap was too great and Cassara won 15-8.
Richard Kruse talks to The Sword magazine about his performance,
with additional comments from his coach Ziemek Wojciechowski:
TS: Apparently you injured yourself before
arriving in Athens.
RK: “Yes, I picked up an injury at
the holding camp in Barcelona. The pistes were too sticky
so that, when you landed from a lunge, you just stopped dead.
My right knee hurt like hell and I could only take hand lessons
for the duration of the camp. Luckily, with the help of the
physios, I managed to be OK for the big day.”
TS: How did you beat Wang in your first fight?
RK: “I have lost to Wang twice previously.
He is extremely fast and strong and certainly the best Chinese
men’s foilist currently around. After I lost to him
in Cuba earlier this year I said quite loudly on the piste
that I would beat him in the Olympics; it was quite a coincidence
when I drew him in the L32. I beat him by dominating the fight.
His attack is impossible to parry so I decided to purely go
forwards. Many of my attacks got through on his shoulder.
He became so afraid about getting hit on the shoulder that
towards the end of the fight he went over the back line twice.”
TS: You came back from 12-14 down against
Kellner to win. How did that happen?
RK: “Unexpectedly, Kellner knocked
out Gohy in the L32, so our L16 fight was a good draw for
both of us. He has a very strong attack if you allow him to
develop it, but he is vulnerable to a counter-attack, so the
majority of my hits were counters. At 12-14 down I scored
a one-light counter-attack. My next hit was a slow attack
to flank (he is a left-hander) and he counter-attacked out
of time. And then I just did the same thing at 14-all.”
TS: How hard was it to fence Cassara, the
No. 1 seed, in the quarter-finals?
RK: “I was 6-nil down before I knew
what was happening and it was all over from then on. He just
kept charging in and I couldn't get out of the way of his
attacks to shoulder. Whenever I started an attack, he did
a stop hit and then disappeared down the piste. He is a fencing
machine, but it might be hard for him to cope when the new
timing changes come into operation because I don't think he
has done a single hit to chest in his whole career!”
TS: How can you reach the very top level?
RK: “The main difference between me
and the rest of the top 8 is that they are paid to fence full
time whereas I do it as a hobby. University is the focus of
my day and fencing just an activity in the evening. If I were
full time, I dare say I would stand a better chance of competing
on a level playing field with the elite foilists in the world.”
ZW: “British fencers need financial
support to train more professionally, but at the same time
they need some type of work to do, preferably part time, so
that when they stop fencing they can continue with a career;
the French model is a good example. Richard needs more experience
with top-class fencers and more confidence, with the tactical
awareness that goes with it. I hope he (as well as his trainer)
will have more time and resources to spend on quality training
and going to A-grades. Richard enjoys a very special relationship
with Laurence Halsted and I hope their rivalry will produce
better results from both of them. An Olympic medal in Beijing
is certainly in our sights.”
Britain’s only other Olympic qualifier, Louise Bond-Williams,
22, was seeded 20th in women’s sabre. She took on Germany’s
Susanne Koenig, 13th seed, and fenced above herself, keeping
ahead all the way to score an excellent 15-13 victory. In
the L16 she came up against the world No. 3, Elena Netchaeva
of Russia, and started well by leading 7-3. But the Russian
caught up and then there was no more than a hit between them
to 12-all, when Netchaeva accelerated to take the last three
hits.
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