SPFC juniors for Ludwig Meider Open

The St Paul Fencing Club (SPFC) junior team is gearing up for the Ludwig Meider Open in Ingolstadt, Germany, later on this month.

This competition on the Bavarian calendar is held over a weekend and comprises individual events in all three fencing disciplines.

The SPFC squad will participate in foil, epee and sabre which is the latest 'weapon' to be introduced at the club.

The group, led by Juan Formosa and Ivan Vassallo, includes Kurt Mifsud, Paul Borg (U-17 foil champion), Andre Zahra, Chris Busuttil and Pierre Bianchi. The latter is the current national champion and Malta Open winner at foil.

All SPFC juniors have had an encouraging start to the new season and are now looking forward to more positive results in the most competitive part of the year - January-June.

Recently, Susan Ronald, from the SPFC women's team, participated in the 2008 Slough Open as part of her international training programme.

The following are the top placings in a SPFC ranking competition held recently:

Men's foil: 1. N. Martinez; 2. P. Bianchi; 3. P. Borg, A. Zahra.

Men's epee: 1. P. Bianchi; 2. N. Martinez; 3. K. Mifsud, D. Pisani.

Women's foil: 1. S. Ronald; 2. J. Vella; 3. M.J. Scicluna, D. Formosa.

Women's epee: 1. S. Ronald; 2. R. Micallef; 3. D. Formosa, J. Vella.