WAIS athlete Sutherlan Scudds earned individual bronze and team gold at last weekend’s 2015 Oceania and AFC Championships in Canberra.
The result keeps him in the mix for a shot at selection for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with the 25 year-old currently ranked second in Australia.
For Scudds to even be contemplating Rio selection marks an incredible achievement for the law graduate, after he survived a life threatening brain tumour that had required intensive treatment and significantly limited his ability to train whilst he battled the cancer.
The Fremantle resident earned bronze in the men’s sabre competition, after reaching the semi-final stage before falling 15-10 to eventual champion Jasper Rowley. Fellow WAIS fencer Zak Leonhard finished fifth, eliminated by beaten finalist Matthew Tadros 15-11.
Scudds enacted a level of revenge by comprising part of the victorious Western Australian team that won the team sabre event, by virtue of a 45-38, come from behind win over a NSW team that included both Rowley and Tadros.
As a former national champion, Scudds holds high standards, and admitted post sabre competition that he’d been aiming for higher than bronze in the individual competition.
“Not the end of the year I wanted, coming away with the bronze, but I’ve had my fair share of health issues this year and I am pretty damn happy with the way I fenced,” he said.
The result means Scudds will need to target a top 64 position in a World Cup event, ahead of Rowley in order to leapfrog the New South Welshman into the top ranked qualifying spot for a chance at Olympic selection.
This chance is set for next March at the World Cup event in Seoul, South Korea.
“There are World Cup options available, but it does come down to a matter of finances,” said the self-funded athlete. “I’m booked in for Korea next year however, and I’ll be aiming for top 64 result there,” he said.
In what could prove his final National Championships campaign, Scudds ensured that if it was, it ended with a rousing finish, as the Western Australian team secured a lion-hearted win, helped in no small part by emerging Western Australian fencer, Jadryn Dick.
Scudds, Leonhard and Dick overcame a slow start that saw them trail NSW 15-12 following three contests to storm back into contention after Dick upset Tadros 8-4, which was followed by Scudds earning a 5-2 win over Phillip Miller.
Rowley defeated Leonhard by a single hit to draw the deficit to three overall with as many rounds remaining, but Dick put WA back into a strong position with a dominant 5-1 win over Adam Wilcock, which proved a margin too great for the NSW outfit, seeing WA claim the title 45-38 at the culmination.
An elated Scudds hailed the win at the close of nationals, rating it as one of his favourite ever.
“National Team Champs for 2015. So proud of these boys. You are like brothers. What a comeback! Could be my most favourite win of all time,” he said via a post on Instagram.
