Silver success for Myles

The Tendring Technology College student was in fine form in the under-17 competition, held at the Leon Paul Fencing Centre in Hendon.

Ashforth won 6/7 of his poule fights to rank second going into the direct eliminations.

In the last eight against the seventh seed he quickly took the lead and although his opponent managed to get a series of double hits, it only made his demise swifter.

It racked up the score for Ashforth, who with the end in sight quickened the pace to finish the fight before the time ran out in the second period, winning 15/7.

In the semi-final, Ashforth fought the third seed again to take the initial lead and although his opponent managed a couple of single hits, Ashforth by the then had a significant lead.

With 12 seconds left on the clock for the second period, his opponent started to walk back to waste time.

Needing to speak to his coach in the break, Ashforth flew up the piste after him on the attack, which was successful.

Ashforth’s speedy attacks earned him a further six hits and the winning point was scored with only a tenth of a second left on the clock, to seal a 15/7 win.

Ashforth’s timing was off in the final against the number one seed.

He was trailing 6/0 but sorted himself out to get the score to 11/9 by the end of the second period.

Ashforth next two points were doubles but his opponent managed to parry the attack that followed.

The ripostes eventually cost Ashforth the fight as he suffered a 15/11, to take the silver medal.

Ashforth also competed at the Luton Open Men’s Epee competition.

After two rounds of poules Ashforth was seeded 17th and after knocking out the 48th and 16th seeds, he met the number one seed who was ranked 25th in the senior GB Men’s Epee rankings.

After trailing behind at the start, Ashforth recovered well but nevertheless lost 15/9 to the eventual winner of the competition.

Ashforth finished the competition 14th overall, his best result in a senior competition to date.