MEDIA RELEASE

5 December 2023

NORTH MELBOURNE – NSW fencer Naresh Sakhrani won yesterday’s Australian and Oceania veteran men’s epee competition, as part of the 2023 Australian and Oceania Senior, Veteran, and Australian Youth Circuit Fencing Championships.

“I started [fencing] when I was in Paris when I was 25 years old, a bit late, actually. When I came here [to Australia] there weren’t that many foilists at my club, UTS, so I switched to epee.”

He says, “I like the speed [of fencing], the reflexes, the strategy behind it. With your opponents, you always have to do something different. With those guys [I fenced in this competition], I normally lose, so that was a good day for me. You might not win every day, but at least today was the day.”

He was born in Hong Kong, spent some of his early childhood in Nigeria, grew up in France, and moved to Australia 13 years ago. He noted the difference between fencing in France, where it’s a mainstream sport, and Australia: “In France it’s a lot of people [fencing], and I have a lot of French friends here in Australia who fence. I think [to normalise fencing in Australia] you have to show the sport a bit more. I think that because it’s not as visible for Australians in the Olympics, because they don’t get qualified, [Australian sports fans] don’t see the fencing. We need some champions to drag the others along.”

Results for each event are being posted in real time at https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/8284EE098F63431FA0F03B468EE30E0A#today

The 2023 Australian and Oceania Senior, Veteran, and Australian Youth Circuit Fencing Championships continue through Tuesday, 5 December. Photo and interview opportunities with competitors will be available throughout the competition.

Photo credit: Ed Chiu

For more information

Laura E. Goodin
Media Officer
media@fencingvictoria.org