NYAC Mercury Cup Epee

[jjefferies]

We're happy, err? Ecstatic? with the results. But did anyone on the list get to watch this? We'll get a first hand report later from Keith. But I'd love to hear about it from someone who wasn't experiencing it up close and personal.
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http://askfred.net/Results/roundResu...titor_id=10418

"Bas Verwijlen, currently 11th in the world, defeated Jon Normile and Alex Abend to get into the final where he faced Keith Lichten, who himself had defeated Ben Solomon, Soren Thompson and Jan Viviani in succession. Bas took the gold with a 13-11 win."
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Keith pointed out on Bay Area Epee that he seeded low out of pools but Dick King had a slightly more calculating view::
3-3 with slightly positive indicators?

"That was a master stroke.

The tournament had 34 entries, which is close to a power of two. That
means that Kieth knew that if he scored 3-3/+1 he would be seeded very
close to 16th, which would make him a land mine, primed to explode right
under somebody's butt in the round of 16. Which he did."

[epeelion]

I was there, but I'm pretty sure any intelligent person wouldn't bank on being able to beat Ben Solomon, Soren Thompson, and Jan Viviani in a row. He was just fencing damn well.

[seven6ty]

What was Bas doing out in the States??

[jjefferies]

Originally Posted by epeelion

I was there, but I'm pretty sure any intelligent person wouldn't bank on being able to beat Ben Solomon, Soren Thompson, and Jan Viviani in a row. He was just fencing damn well.

Well, I'm pretty sure Dick King had his tongue in his cheek. Probably pushing it through his cheek.

But what was the place like?? I don't know all the names beyond those who I've fenced. But I take it was pretty top heavy for a 34 person tournament. Is this a select crowd?

[piste off]

Originally Posted by seven6ty

What was Bas doing out in the States??

He told me he was "here for the fencing." It is the 2nd time I've seen him here this year. A really nice guy.

Rick

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by jjefferies

But I take it was pretty top heavy for a 34 person tournament. Is this a select crowd?

It's a tournament restricted to A's & B's (and up to 8 wildcards that have played their way into qualification through a previous tournament) that's hosted at the home of the 2007 gold AND silver medal winning teams in the D1MET National Championships.

So, yeah, a fairly select crowd, while still somewhat open.

-B

[epeelion]

The Mercury Cups are pretty much the toughest local tournaments you're ever going to find. The fencing is phenomenal usually, especially now that they've narrowed the criteria for entrants. And yes, Bas is a really nice guy.

As an example, my pool had me, Ben Solomon, Leif Roiz, and Alex Tsinis (and three others). That's a pool you could easily see at a Div1 NAC. And that wasn't the toughest pool at the tournament.

[RITFencing]

Originally Posted by epeelion

The Mercury Cups are pretty much the toughest local tournaments you're ever going to find. The fencing is phenomenal usually, especially now that they've narrowed the criteria for entrants. And yes, Bas is a really nice guy.

As an example, my pool had me, Ben Solomon, Leif Roiz, and Alex Tsinis (and three others). That's a pool you could easily see at a Div1 NAC. And that wasn't the toughest pool at the tournament.

That's actually a tougher pool than your average D1NAC. It's somewhere between that and Div 1 Nationals.

[RITFencing]

Actually, I think tournaments like these go a long way towards developing higher level fencers. I wish there was something that strong in a format that offered everyone more bouts, maybe with repechage, or as a round robin, or multiple rounds of pools, or something. I think it would be very beneficial and might help more As and Bs justify the cost of attending.

[nyacfencing]

I'm glad to hear that so many of you have such nice things to say about the Mercury Cup events. We've worked really, really hard over the last few years to build them into what they are today. The goal at the NYAC has always been focused on producing world-class athletes, and we are thrilled to offer the highest-caliber tournaments possible with that aim.

I always reminisce back to when I moved to NY and started fencing at the NYAC in 1999. With it's reputation, I assumed the local events would be amazing. To my dismay, I discovered that the events were sparsely attended (one event was an E due to a field of only 14), and the top guys certainly never came. This past Sunday when I called out the pool sheets, I couldn't help but be proud of what we had achieved.

A big thanks to George Masin, the ultimate tournament manager, and Michael Aufrichtig, whose focus on improvement as club president and shared vision has allowed us to implement some of the policies that have really built these events up! My biggest thanks goes to all the great epeeists from the region who loyally drive in for our events... these fencers make the tournament.

BTW: I am happy to consider other formats. Epeepalooza used to have a repechage round (many complained, which is why I did away with it). I even offered it as an option this past Sunday. The truth is that most of the fencers don't want to spend the additional time on a Sunday that it would take for extra pool/de rounds, and don't want to wear themselves down with a NAC coming up.

[seven6ty]

I'd think that with a NAC coming up, they'd want to? We had an A & B event out here this past weekend too, and it was a great way to warm up and get in a lot of top notch practice. It was a pool of 10, into two pools of 5, then DE bouts, fencing off for every place. (So you fence off for places 4th-8th, etc.) If you're going to get that many top notch people in one place, might as well fence as much as possible!

[nyacfencing]

Believe me, I see your point and would also love more fencing. However after being at the NYAC for 8 years, my view on several things has changed, and this is one of them.

When you have a group of guys who are all in a constantly desperate race to stay on top and possibly even qualify to the Olympics, they take bouts... even local competition bouts... very seriously. The bouts are considerably more intense, and take a lot more out of them, than your average bout. Also, the injury risk probability starts to increase as you add more bouts.

[piste off]

Originally Posted by nyacfencing

A big thanks to George Masin, the ultimate tournament manager, and Michael Aufrichtig, whose focus on improvement as club president and shared vision has allowed us to implement some of the policies that have really built these events up! My biggest thanks goes to all the great epeeists from the region who loyally drive in for our events... these fencers make the tournament.

A big reason for the tournament's success is also due to Jonathan Bartlett, who has a real talent for marketing.

Rick

[epeelion]

Yeah, but we all know Jonathan's much too modest to say anything. :-p

Seconded, by the way. The combination of Mike's recruiting and Jonathan's efficient management has been phenomenal. That, of course, and George Masin's continuing to volunteer his support. I don't know if he does it for the love of the sport or what, but I'm certainly very glad he sticks around.

As for more fencing, this was actually a small one. There have been a couple with more than 70 people, which was horrible with our limited space. As it is, Reps are nice, but remember that an average practice at the AC gets youy more and higher level fencing than most tournaments. The variety of fencers is really the most valuable aspect. This also means, however, that I, at least, don't feel like I need to fence as much in tournaments. At least, not to the point of adding repechage.

[jspierre]

Bas said that he likes coming over to NY 'cause the epee pool in the City is very strong, he likes to fence different styles, and feels that the European circuit guys are all to familiar with each other (I guess to the point where the fencing is predictable).