Berne, World Cup Event!
I dislike Berne. Not because of the place, which is lovely, but merely because I'm always rubbish there.
This year was no different. Off a period of relatively low training thanks to exams, I crept to Berne hopeful I could give a similar performance to Legnano. Oh such a shame.
To start with it wasn't the hardest or biggest comp, but tough enough. In my poule I fenced like a wally. My first fight I lost 5-0. Mainly due to being off the pace and the opponent (HUN) being exactly the wrong guy to work a head of steam (i.e. nice and steady in the right place the whole time...). Then second fight (ITA) 1-0 up, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 down; bit down and concentrated 2-3, 3-3. Then stupidly 3-4 down with about 45 seconds left. Finally pulled off a good hit to get back level 4-4. Into extra-time 5-4 win. This set the tone - 4 wins by 1 hit, and two absolute thrashings. Fenced like a plonker, but a grimly determined plonker.
Ended up with a reasonable 40ish seeding, and a bye into the 96. Here I met a guy (CZE) I had beaten 5-4 in the poule. This didn't go well, as I continued my rubbishness and fell behind early. This was compounded by a complete lack of ability to attack today... game over and an early bath.
So what have I learnt? I learnt that I wasn't fencing well and yet still managed to win 4 out of 6 in my poule. That's not bad. Essentially with my game working I should have won through to the next day and at least 16 on previous form. We'll see if I can make this happen in the future.
Photos here
This year was no different. Off a period of relatively low training thanks to exams, I crept to Berne hopeful I could give a similar performance to Legnano. Oh such a shame.
To start with it wasn't the hardest or biggest comp, but tough enough. In my poule I fenced like a wally. My first fight I lost 5-0. Mainly due to being off the pace and the opponent (HUN) being exactly the wrong guy to work a head of steam (i.e. nice and steady in the right place the whole time...). Then second fight (ITA) 1-0 up, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 down; bit down and concentrated 2-3, 3-3. Then stupidly 3-4 down with about 45 seconds left. Finally pulled off a good hit to get back level 4-4. Into extra-time 5-4 win. This set the tone - 4 wins by 1 hit, and two absolute thrashings. Fenced like a plonker, but a grimly determined plonker.
Ended up with a reasonable 40ish seeding, and a bye into the 96. Here I met a guy (CZE) I had beaten 5-4 in the poule. This didn't go well, as I continued my rubbishness and fell behind early. This was compounded by a complete lack of ability to attack today... game over and an early bath.
So what have I learnt? I learnt that I wasn't fencing well and yet still managed to win 4 out of 6 in my poule. That's not bad. Essentially with my game working I should have won through to the next day and at least 16 on previous form. We'll see if I can make this happen in the future.
Photos here
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