International line-up also at the 13th "Little White Bear of Berlin"
For the 4th time, the foil tournament for the "Little White Bear" will take place within the framework of the traditional tournament of the epee fencers. For the young fencers, this means that a place in the final also means a fight on the big stage. Fencing in front of more than 500 spectators on the elevated track in the historic domed hall of the Berlin Olympic Park, including a moderated live stream, is probably unique in Germany.
The registration numbers are correspondingly pleasing, 72 starters from Poland and Germany are a record turnout for the organising fencing club, Fecht-Club Grunewald Berlin e.V., which once again confirms the decision to combine young talent and tradition.
In the under-11 girls' competition, there is an all-Polish final in the Kuppelsaal. Teresa Mos (UKS MDK-5 Bydgoszcz) wins against her German semi-final opponent Danae Meyer Narváez from the Berlin Fencing Club in a similarly commanding manner (6:2), as does her compatriot Zofia Konieczka (UKS MDK-5 Bydgoszcz) against Nika Sorokin from FC Grunewald (10:4).
The winner of the final battle for the white bear was Teresa Mos, who gave her club mate Zofia Konieczka no chance in the dome hall with 10:3.
In the boys' event in the same age group, Berlin fencers will settle the final among themselves, even though Felix Puhlmann has been competing for the Halle Fencing Centre since this season. The former SC Berlin fencer won 9:6 against Benjamin Pfeiffer from Berliner FC in the semi-final. The second semi-final was clearly decided by Heinrich Demandt (BFC) with 10:3 against Levi Triebswetter from SCB.
In a thrilling final battle Demand finally won 6:5 against Puhlmann in overtime.
In the final fencing of the older (U13) age groups, the German top epee fencer Lukas Bellmann (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) will then take over the co-hosting of the live stream.
The winner in the girls' event is Aleksandra Nowakowska (UKS MDK-5 Bydgoszcz), who triumphed 10-5 over Joy Frigewski of TSV Berlin-Wittenau.
Earlier, Nowakowska had earned her place in the dome against club mate Liliana Scieszynska with 10:7. Frigewski had won against Bele Karius of SC Berlin 10:4.
The finalists of the older boys are Claus Lund from FSC Cottbus and Conrad Kolb from SCB. Kolb had won by a razor-thin margin (9:8) against last year's winner Mateo Phielipeit (also SCB) in the semi-finals, Lund won clearly (10:4) against Alex Kardys (UKS MDK-5 Bydgoszcz).
The final went into overtime, just like the U11 boys. At the score of 5:5 Kolb is able to parry Lund's attack and set the riposte himself. Conrad Kolb wins 6:5 and secures another White Bear for Berlin. "Cool match" was the succinct conclusion of co-host Lukas Bellmann.
Photos: Mirko Seifert
