IN PICTURES: Luton Sword Club hold first Open tournament

The event attracted more than 178 competitors, including elite fencers from all over the UK and many internationally recognised fencers from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland and France.

The tournament included men’s and ladies’ foil, epee and sabre competitions, organised with seeding rounds leading to the knockout tableau.

Seeding rounds are organised in pools of six with the seeding based on the calculation hits scored minus hits received – each bout being up to five hits.

Each fight is settled by the first to reach 15 hits within a limit of three three-minute bouts with two one-minute time intervals between them.

The largest entry was the men’s epee with two unbeaten opponents facing each other for a thrilling final between Vittorio Bedani of the London Fencing Club and Niall Maynard from Egham, with Maynard triumphing 15-11.

From the Luton Sword Club, Jake Hutchins excelled, ranked 15th best cadet in the Intermediate foil.

For a full report and results, see the News/Gazette on sale now, while to view Liam Smith’s gallery of photos, click on the link above.