Golden Pliers on the line for top New Zealand fencers
New Zealand’s top fencers will battle head to head on Thursday morning in the hope of being crowned New Zealand Fencing Champion
New Zealand’s top fencers will fight through mud and sweat in the hope of taking home the Wiremark Golden Pliers.
After getting through the heats on Monday, eight finalists will battle for up to six and a half hours to construct a 50 metre-long fence.
The event starts at 8.15 on Thursday morning, with contestants heading down at least an hour earlier to lay out their tools, nutrition, and to prepare for the task.
It is one of many fencing events held at Fieldays over the week, including the Bill Schuler competition and doubles contests.
New Zealand Fencing Competitions spokesman Tim Stafford, who is competing in his sixth Golden Pliers event this year, said preparation is the key to performing at your peak.
“It’s a big ask for a lot of people, because you don’t stop for a break,” he said.
“It’s pretty hard to concentrate for that amount of time going full noise, so it sort of plays mind games with you a bit.”
The Golden Pliers have been awarded to the top singles fencer in the country since 1969.
Included in the list of past winners is 2013 and ’14 champion Shane Bouskill, who is looking to make it three on the trot.
Stafford said Bouskill is the one to beat again this year.
“He’s got extremely good quality,” Stafford said.
“Any of the guys can take it out; you can’t put it past anybody. But definitely Shane, at the moment, would be one of the top guys there.”
This year’s final sees a wide gap in ages, with three of the eight finalists being younger than 30 and the oldest at 60.
However, if you are not fit enough, the competition will get the better of you.
“You want to be pretty fit, because once you get four or five hours into it your brain’s not getting the food that it needs and you start making stupid mistakes that you usually wouldn’t,” Stafford said.
This year’s finalists are:
Tim Stafford – Marton
Matt Jones – Levin
Tony Bouskill – Hawke’s Bay
Mark Lambert – Bulls
Jeff Joines – Raumati South
Nick Liefting – Pukekohe
Jason Van Beers – Porangahau
Shane Bouskill – Hawke’s Bay
