Millfield fencers have competed internationally at the African and Asian Zonal Championships.
Upper Sixth Kelsey Woname, brother Year 9 Kaden Woname and Lower Sixth Renee Nassozi
Kiggundu have competed at the African Zonal Championships.
As well as being Millfield’s fencing captain for this year, Kelsey led the Ghanaian team for the fourth time. She finished eighth in the U20 Women’s Sabre, improving her official ranking from 98th to 66th. During the championships she demonstrated fantastic leadership skills in leading and coaching the squad each day.
Kelsey, who joined Millfield Prep School in Year 8, said, “This has been my best result at these zonal championships so I’m very happy with that. As Millfield fencing captain I’m also very proud to see other Millfield fencers competing on an international stage.”
Thirteen-year-old Kaden competed in the U15 category for Ghana, placing second and achieving his first international silver medal. He also competed in the U17 Cadet Championship, placing sixth. Kaden joined Millfield Prep in Year 6 and boards at Millfield. He said, “It was a great first international fencing experience for me with lots of lessons learnt and understanding what to work on. I really enjoyed being part of a team, led by my sister Kelsey, and meeting other fencers from
different countries. I’m looking forward to competing in the junior competition soon.”
Renee Nassozi Kiggundu joined Millfield Prep in Year 4. She represented her home country, Uganda, in the U17 Cadet Championships finishing fifth and she placed seventh in the U20 category. The sixteen-year-old competed at the World Championships and is training for the U20 Juniors next year. Lower Sixth Lauren Tang and Umar competed at the Asian Zonal Championships.
Lauren represented Malaysia in the U17 Cadet Foil, finishing 16th out of a strong group, qualifying for the World Championships. She also competed in the U20 Junior Foil and placed 10th. Lauren, who joined Millfield in Year 9 as a boarder, continued developing her competitive fencing in the lead up to the World Championships.
Lower Sixth Umar competed in both the Individual U17 Cadet Foil and Team Cadet Foil event. Umar showed fantastic resilience and team work coming away with a bronze medal in the team event. Director of Fencing Mike Cleary, said, “The achievements of the students and the spread of different countries represented shows the dedication and hard work put into their weekly training. The variety of nationalities in the fencing squad really helps create a great atmosphere and allows for greater variety during training. It is fantastic to have students return with medals from these events, but it is even better that they return enthused and eager to work towards their next goal.”
Millfield offers training in all three fencing weapons to all students at the highest levels. Fencing is the fourth sport to have been given an academy status at the school and is available to every student as a games option, irrespective of their age or skill, and offered as a sport option in Year 9. Our purpose-built fencing salle contains ten training pistes each served with full electronic data recording equipment.
The World Championships were held in Dubai from 2-10 April 2022
Categories: Millfield School School News
