After greeting friends and figuring out the situation of the rooms we were ready to see some fencing. So much media follows Laura Flessel around that it can be hard to find a seat anywhere near her matches. I realize I've been lucky as our club has hosted the French national championships two or three times now. Laura is the defacto spokesman of the FFE and has to deal with a lot of pressure from the unbelievably demanding French press corps. More on this later.

I had not seen Budai fence before. I believe, at 18, she’s the youngest member of this famous Hungarian fencing family. I hadn’t seen her fence before, but I have taken lessons from her father. If this is any indication his is a very thorough approach to the game featuring a multiplicity of actions au fer for which the Hungarian school is notorious. This style has been looking long in the tooth for some time now and I was anxious to see what young Hungarian fencers would display.

Match Breakdown



Conclusions
The twenty years’ difference between these two fencers was in complete evidence. Flessel took her time building a comfortable lead to avoid any unpleasant surprises the youngster might have in store. The first period went to Flessel, who scored three touches, and took an average of 49 seconds to score each. Budai earned no touches and stumbled with distance, getting hit on a direct attack and then on a stop hit at Flessel’s invitation.

The second period was far more eventful. Budai found her defensive game after getting hit on an indirect attack, marking four parry-ripostes throughout the period. Flessel is the best attacker in the women’s game, with the greatest tactical repertoire, so it was no surprise that she marked a toe touch. Budai answered, scoring on a redoublement--there's that physical Hungarian fencing! Laura knows how to draw out all the tactical possibilities and also touched on a number of invited stop hits. Period ended at 6-10, with an average interval of 12.41 seconds.

As anyone who has ever fenced épée in competition knows, a four-touch gap is nearly impossible to bring back to the good. Budai gave it a shot but really seemed out of her depth. Thirteen seconds in, Flessel uncorked her first flèche (according to my notes). Budai was nevertheless able to double. Toward the middle, she hit Flessel off her flèche which maybe gave her the courage to attack--she had nothing to lose now. Flessel, however, knows her tactics and handled the change in initiative quite easily scoring a pair of parry ripostes.

The whole match came in at an industry-standard interval of 18.71 seconds between touches. Budai was too slow thinking on her feet but, my god, eighteen years old and all that.