The weekend of 30th and 31st saw the return of the Prof. Duffy Memorial Epee tournament, held in the Trinity College sports centre.
Saturday was the men’s event, with international teams from Germany and England making the trip over to Dublin to take part in Ireland’s premier epee event.
After a tough poule round, where the Trinity team won all matches, they were seeded 2nd. With a bye into the last 8, they had to fence Northampton, a team of great experience. In a close match, Trinity won 45-30, and were through to the semi-finals.
Here they fought against a team from Salle Duffy, all of whom were seasoned international fencers. After the closest match of the day, with the lead constantly changing, Trinity lost by the narrowest of margins, 45-44.
The match drew great support and spectators from the knocked out teams and Trinity men can be proud of this great result, the first Trinity medal in the Duffy Epee for a number of years. Salle Duffy was the eventual winner, beating a team from Leipzig, Germany, 45-41.
On Sunday was the turn for women’s epee, with a number of teams again turning up, from UCD, DCU and Germany.
Trinity had another team entered, who fought to the top of their poule and then had a well fought victory in the last 8 over UCD.
In the semi-finals they met Leipzig women, and were just beaten in the last fight of the match to lose 45-42. This, however, is another strong result for Dublin University Fencing Club, not only on the whole but also for the female epee squad, proving that all the hard work and dedication throughout the year has paid off with a deserved medal.
A great set of results for both the Trinity men and women at the weekend, and no doubt look forward to welcoming back all teams next year and hopefully a win!
