Published: 26 January, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT

SKILFUL sabreur Curtis Miller (pictured) battled his way to bronze on the international scene at the weekend when he took on some of the top names in the sport at the under-20s Junior World Cup in France.

The Camden Fencing Club member won four and lost one of his pool matches to be seeded a modest 26 going into direct elimination.

Curtis came into his own in the knockout stages as he beat opponents from Japan, Russia, Italy and France in a run of five straight victories before succumbing to Germany’s Sebastian Schroedter 15-13 in semi-final.

Club-mate Soji Aiyenuro, who has been unable to fence for several weeks because of a broken finger, also fenced well to finish a creditable 31st.

Soji won four and lost two of his pool matches and beat Geoffrey Loss from the USA in the direct elimination stages, before losing to Schroedter 15-9.

In the women’s sabre competition Camden’s Aliya Itzkowitz excelled in the pools as she won all six of her matches, only to lose narrowly 15-14 to Marissa Gomez from the USA in the last 64.