28/07/2026
A large number of Club members and their guests braved the sun-drenched lawns of the Hurlingham on Saturday to contest the 2026 edition of the Lavradio Cup.
We had thirteen fencers, which were split into two poules: one of 6 and one of 7.
Poule A comprised Alain Barbasiewicz, Steve Bateman and Andrew Brannon, along with guest fencers Lu Sadler, Jeremy Baker and Margot Krouwer. Poule B comprised defending champion John Prime, Anton Pollard and Mariette Mason, and guest fencers Alexandra Powell, Maxton Milner, Jolyon Hogarth Scott and Jeff Rosenbaum.
With 36 matches to get through, matches were fenced first to 5 hits in just 1 minute. Thirty of those matches were won on time, and 16 of them were decided by just one hit.
The top female fencer from each poule faced each other, with Lu Sadler beating Alexandra Powell 5-1.
Steve Bateman and Lu Sadler were promoted from Poule A, and Maxton Milner and John Prime from Poule B.
The final was contested by John and Maxton, with John managing to win 5-3 and retain the Cup.
The fencers were cheered on by a number of supporters, including Zoe, Owen and Eloise Bateman, Tony Bowran, Alex Brooks, Brian Hill, and President Emeritus David Partridge.
Notable mentions also go to Howard West who did a lot of the refereeing, as well as David Worsfield who performed the invaluable role of light-spotter.