Sophie Williams Blog

UNDER PRESSURE IN POLAND

Last weekend I travelled out to Poland for another U20 World Cup event.  Having already had great success this season I was a little nervous about continuing my good form.
It was a different experience for me from the start as I went into the competition as one of the top ranked fencers and I felt that this put pressure on me to do well in the first round. However, I think my nerves got the better of me in the start of the poule round and I only won one of my first four fights. However I managed to regain some composure and win the last two fights. This meant that I was seeded 48th and narrowly got a bye through the next round.
I was now into the last 64 of the knockout rounds and I had Marton (Hungary), another highly ranked fencer who I lost to 15-14 in Russia. This time she got off to a great start, which meant I had to play catch up for the rest of the fight and eventually I lost 15-11. Although I am very disappointed with my result, I have learned some valuable lessons from my experience so hopefully when I go to Germany for another World Cup event in December I will be more prepared.