| |
This exhibition match is part of the British team’s build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games and will take place at the Lansdowne Club in London, the training centre for the British Foil team.
GB and Japan have developed a great affinity in fencing as both teams have individuals who are well represented in the world rankings. Kruse is currently 4th in the foil world rankings and the GB men’s Foil team is currently ranked 10th. The Japanese team, which is currently ranked 6th, has travelled to the UK to acclimatise in preparation for the 2010 senior World Fencing Championship which is due to take place in Paris in November. This event attracts the very best teams from around the world, so the visit by the Japanese team is an ideal opportunity for the British team to hone their competitive edge in readiness to increase their haul of international medals for the year.
Coached by former Polish International and Olympic fencer, Ziemek Wojciechowski, the British squad have won six medals in this season’s Grand Prix and World Cup events has achieved their best ever result and are well on target to achieve international and Olympic success.
The event at the Mayfair club will commence at 6.30 and is sponsored by BW Cutters Ltd.
In July 2010 in Singapore, Richard Kruse won The Singapore Masters Tournament in which he beat the best fencers in the world (Baldini, Kleibrink and Cassara)
2010 was the first time that Britain has won a team medal in the European Championships when the British men's senior foil team won bronze.
Richard Kruse won the silver medal and Laurence Halsted the bronze medal at the European Championships in 2009. These results were historic in that the British team has never had two European medallists in the same weapon at senior level. Britain has now won a silver medal in men's foil at the European Championships in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
Fencing is one of only four sports that have been featured in every modern Olympic Games, beginning in 1896. Six Fencing disciplines are on the Olympic programme, which include six individual and four team events:
The UK fencing team have won 10 Olympic medals, the last occasion being in 1964. In 1956 Gillian Sheen became the first and only Briton to win a Gold medal for Fencing.
Ziemek Wojciechowski was born in Poland and is a former Polish International and Olympic fencer. Ziemek has produced the British Senior Team Champions in women’s foil for the last six consecutive years and three of the last four men’s team champions. Former pupils include World medallists and Olympic finalists. In 1985 he established the first national series of competitions for children in the UK, thereby laying the foundations for the growth and success of fencing across the country.
Situated in the heart of Mayfair, the Lansdowne Fencing Club was established in 1937 with it's own dedicated salle d'arme. Recently refurbished with modern electronic scoring equipment and pistes, the Club focuses on excellence in Foil and Epee, and accommodates all levels of ability.
The Lansdowne Club provides support and training facilities for the Men’s Foil Team as a partner of British Fencing.
|
colin[.]ultimediapr.co.uk 
