The rise and rise of Australian fencing champion Sutherlan Scudds continues unabated, with the 20 year-old WAIS scholarship holder this week preparing to jet off to South Korea to compete in the Asian Fencing Championships.
Scudds will be joined by fellow WAIS scholarship holder James Lewis – who himself is emerging as a fencer of significant potential in the men’s epee division.
The best fencers from Asia and the Oceania are expected to participate in this competition, which will have individual and team events for Foil, Saber, and Epee.
Sutherlan Scudds will compete in the men’s sabre in both the individual and teams competitions – with the top ranked Australian hoping to improve on his world ranking of 93rd.
Scudds expects stiff competition, particularly from the Koreans who have shown considerable form in 2010.
“The AFC is an important competition as it gives away double-points, without posing the threat of the experienced European countries,” Scudds said.
“This is not to say the competition will be easy, the Korean men’s Sabre team has been the surprise packet for the world sabre circuit, with individuals winning medals in five of eight world cups this year, with three fencers ranked in the world top 10.”
“They also formed a group which won the final team event of the season in Italy. Whilst in the Epee, a Korean fencer is ranked second in the world, and the team is ranked fourth,” Scudds explained.
James Lewis currently holds a fourth placed Australian ranking in the Epee, and sits 194th internationally.
The Asian Fencing Championships run from July 7-13 in Seoul, Korea.
