Fencing: Salle Angelo Club competitors dominant

Members of the Dunedin Salle Angelo Club dominated the podium during the fencing event, with Brian Ellis winning the sabre gold medal and fellow club fencers filling the minor placings.

Ellis (64), a unit manager at the Otago District Health Board, beat both his opponents in the barrage (play-off) when they finished on equal points after the round-robin competition at the Otago Boys High School gymnasium yesterday.

Tony Williams (60), a goldsmith, was runner-up and Pat Hyland (57), a consultant electrical engineer, took the bronze medal.

Ellis, who started fencing in London at the age of 12, put the win down to his age and experience in the sport.

"I was determined to win, but I also had the cunning and experience," he said.

It was his first gold medal since fencing was introduced to the Masters Games in 2004.

"Winning a medal is a bonus," he said.

"There is a lot of camaraderie in fencing.

We are here to have fun."

Ellis started fencing at a young age because he was not good at other sports.

"I enjoyed it," he said.

"It also helped me get better at other games as well."

The Salle Angelo Club continues the tradition started by foil fencer Dominico, known as Angelo, who went to London from Italy in 1755 and stayed to found a dynasty of fencing masters.

Angelo opened his school in Soho, London, and he and his descendants became a fixture in the training of generations of wealthy English youth in fencing and horsemanship.

Dominico was still coaching fencing at Eton three days before he died at the age of 86.

The Salle Angelo Club practises an older style of fencing called classic fencing which started long before the introduction of electrical scoring in the late 1950s.

It places an emphasis on style, neatness and courtesy rather than competitive success.