FENCING: Paul Lowen, captain of Ealing's Saxon Fencing Club, took second place in the South East Regional Epee Championships in Canterbury and Adrian Medhurst took third in the Sabre.

It was a fine return for the club, which meets at Twyford Sports centre, Acton,

In the men's epee, a thrusting sword in which the whole body is the target, Saxon fielded three fencers in the field of 21 men.

Lewis Bassett-Butt won two of his six pool matches to earn himself a place in the first elimination round - and once there, he used his full reach against a smaller opponent to comfortably take his first ever elimination win in competition. Bassett-Butt went out honourably in the last 16, losing 15-10 to a strong opponent.

More experienced fencers, Lowen and Grant Smith both had strong pools, winning six and four of their bouts respectively. Both earned byes to the last 16 and both won their bouts easily, but found themselves drawn against each other in the quarter final finals.

With a semi-final place guaranteed for one Saxon fencer, the two fencers fought their first to 15 bout. Lowen took an early lead but Smith pulled back to 13-13, before Lowen finished him with typical resolve.

Lowen is a specialist with the foil, the lighter thrusting weapon with a limited target area and subtly different tactics. He is a British veteran champion and member of the Great Britain Veteran team in the discipline.

Although less practiced with an epee, he still won a tenaciously fought semi-final, to earn his final place against reigning World Veteran Epee Champion, Ralph Johnson.

Lowen fought with his usual grit and skill, but he lacked Johnson's technique and tactical acumen at epee, and the Ealing man went down 15-5 to take the runner-up slot.

In the women's epee, in a field of 12, Catherine De Graca had a strong pool, winning three from five, but then had a disappointing bout in the first elimination round, going down to a heavy defeat.

Kate Clarke, another foil specialist, struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar epee. She won two pool matches but also went out in the first knockout round.

In the men's sabre, an aggressive cut and thrust sword where the head, arms and torso are the target, two Saxons, the elegant young

Simon Whitaker and the bearded Adrian Medhurst, were amongst the 21 fencers.

Both had strong pools and after byes through the first round, won their next bouts with panache.

Once again this meant that two Saxons faced each other in a quarter-final. After close early exchanges, Whitaker pulled away with his trademark cuts to the wrist, but Medhurst dug deep and with a late surge, passed Whitaker to earn his semi-final place with a series of fast attacks.

Medhurst was outclassed in his semi-final, going out to a superior fencer, but can be delighted with his shared third place.