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Salient: Victoria University Students' Newspaper. Vol. 24, No. 8. 1961.

Aussie Victory

Aussie Victory

On Thursday, May 11, the touring Australian fencing team conclusively beat Victoria in all weapons. The match scores were: Men's foil, 9-7; ladies' foil. 13-3; epee, 11-5; sabre, 11-5.

The men's foil match was very closely contested, and regrettably Victoria did not win. A count back on individual hits shows that although Australia won by two bouts they only scored three additional hits on V.U.W. men. Australia hit 66 points in their nine wins, whilst Victoria came close with 63 points in their seven victories.

The ladies' foil team had an unfortunate day. However, club members are optimistic that such accomplished fencers as Gerda Buchler and Lorna McKenzie will regain their top form for the match N.Z.U v. Australia Universities on May 27.

The standard of epee fencing was not very high on either side, but the results in this weapon (11-5) tend to discredit the V.U.W. team, who fought very staunchly when their lack of knowledge of this weapon is realised. Chris Horne gave a particularly meritorious performance in epee.

The men's sabre match was, as far as the contestants were concerned, the highlight of the day. It was strongly contested by the V.U.W. team, who gave nothing away. All the contestants really enjoyed this match, even to the extent that Richard Hall walked on to fight with an extra length of blade attached to his weapon. However, this move was detected and he had to resort to fighting with a conventional weapon.

Despite this setback in these matches, the team coaches and supporters are convinced that V.U.W. has every possibility of "pulling off" the fencing at Winter Tournament this year. The team members are very keen to train hard and should shortly regain top form.

The club was very fortunate in being allowed first competitive use of the new gym. This was appreciated by Australians and Wellingtonians alike. I understand that it compares most favourably with university gyms in Australia. The floor is perfect for fencing, and if looked after properly could be a great asset to the 'varsity.

Ross Martin.