Sophie’s success

FENCER Sophie Drosso, 16, got her season off to a flying start on Saturday.

She finished second with the silver medal and won the North Section Schools Cup, in the first major (senior) Scottish open com-petition of the year in Inverness.

One of the oldest competitions on the calendar, the Highland Open brought competitors from as far afield as Canada with skill ranging from beginners to Scottish team members across all three weapons.

Continuing the success of last season, Sophie started the pool rounds strongly, following up with victories throughout the direct elimination rounds with her first national final at this year’s Highland Open at the weekend.

Christopher Rocks, who com-peted in the foil on Saturday and won the bronze medal, continued this success on Sunday with a third place finish in the men’s épée.

After a strong start in the poules, Christopher continued his strong run through to the knockout stages. He won his first round match 15-3, followed by a 15-14 triumph over St Andrews’ Sebastian Schulz. He finally went out to Glasgow’s David Cook 15-13 in the semi-finals.

Shetland Fencing Club coach Andy Alderman was delighted with the performances from Sophie and Christopher.

“Sophie had a great second season last year, and has used her experience she gained last year to her advantage,” Prof Alderman said. “The hard work she put in over the years started to show at the start of last year and continued to grow as the year went on.

“Similarly, Christopher has worked hard over the years to get to where he has done today and this has been shown by not only his performance on Saturday in the foil but in Sunday’s épée competition ensuring the Glenfiddich Salver.”

Prof. Alderman said he was pleased with the performances throughout the weekend from all the Shetland fencers.

“They got themselves prepared for the competition by themselves for the first time without a coach from the club. To do this by themselves and to have performed as well as they have makes the trip not only a competition but a vital learning experience.”