THORNBURY fencer Tabitha De N’Yeurt fought her way to a top eight finish at the England Youth Championships (EYC) on Saturday.

After finishing in the top 16 at the British Youth Championships in March, Tabby was determined to finish higher at the Championships.

Tabby trains at Thornbury Leisure Centre several times a week and their continued support for the past three years has accelerated her progress.

Her performance this season has stepped up from last year when she won the South West U15 Championship, was crowned Leon Paul U15 champion, received her second England cap, took bronze at the Senior South West Championships, was Gloucester U16 Girls champion and was part of the gold medal-winning Excalibur Somerset Women’s Foil Team.

Her results earned her a call up to the prestigious Cadet Winton Cup for young fencers from regions around the UK in December.

On the eve of the England Youth Championships, she was informed that she had been selected to also fence for the Senior Winton Squad representing the South West region on July 1 in Manchester.

This is a real honour for the 14-year-old at an event created by the press dubbed British Schindler, Nicholas Winton MBE who rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War Two.

Riding high on that happy news she travelled to the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield.

She started brightly in her group matches against five other fencers, the format score five hits in three minutes.

She won four fights, dropping just five hits then she met North West fencer Bronwen Hyde losing 5-1.

Her solid performance put her in tenth spot before the direct elimination (DE) fights.

She was given a bye in to the last 32 fencers. Her first DE to 15 hits over three minutes did not trouble her and she won easily 15-4.

Her next direct elimination fight pitted her against Lili Sitanyi who was seeded higher than Tabby at seventh.

Tabby went into an early lead to 6-0, then Lili started to pick up on Tabby’s style and rhythm picking up points on counter attacks and direct attacks that Tabby could not defend against.

Tabby started to get frustrated with her fencing and needed her coach to settle her nerves.

The coaching during the minute breaks did the trick and she was victorious 15-11.

Tabby now had a chance of reaching the semi-finals and guarantee England selection with an automatic place to the CEP Paris marathon to a earn her third England cap.

Standing in her way was fellow England fencer and good friend, Bronwen Hyde, who she had lost to in the groups and who was ranked second.

The first period of three minutes was evenly poised with both girls scoring freely and matching each other hit for hit and the period ended 7-7.

A one minute break and coaching before the second period lead both girls to adopt a more caution approach and ended 9-9.

The final period of three minutes started and Bronwen adopted a much more aggressive European style which started to pay off and Tabby had no answer.

The match ended 15-10 and Bronwen went on to be crowned England U15 Champion, with Tabby taking the most points off her the whole tournament and finishing seventh overall. Many present felt this should have been the final, such was the calibre of the fencing on display.

Tabby said: "While I was disappointed to have lost to my friend Bronwen in the last period of our quarter final fight.

"I was pleased with my performance over the tournament. I had set myself several process goals which I exceeded and my focus gave me my best national championship result I have ever had.

"I was grateful to have my coach Mike Cleary with me. The recent sponsorship from several local Thornbury companies and charity organisations made this possible.”

Looking to the future, Tabby will send the summer training hard at summer camps in Europe and the UK for the start of the Cadet season where competitions in September will decide if she can get GB selection.

The GB Pathway Team have invited Tabby, at just 14, to train with the Cadet (U17) and Junior (U20) squads from September.