WREXHAM fencers have been able to test themselves against the very best in Europe and the world.

Four members of Wrexham Fencing Club went out to Wroclaw, in Poland, for Challenge Wratislavia.

This is one of the largest youth fencing competitions in Europe.

The event welcomes competitors from across the world, with large delegations from some of the powerhouses of global fencing, including Hungary, Romania and Germany.

In the first event of the day, Wrexham’s William Bird and Oliver Hewett were in a very strong field of over 128 fencers in the under-15 boys’ sabre category.

William had a tough poule and despite growing throughout the event, he was not able to progress to the next round and he finished the day in 122nd position.

Oliver also began with a tough 5-3 loss in his poule, before growing in confidence to secure four solid victories and a close 5-4 defeat against the group-winning German fencer.

This solid showing allowed Oliver to progress through to the direct elimination stage in a strong position, earning him a bye straight through into the last 64.

In this round he drew a strong Czech fencer and despite scoring some good points, his opponent proved too strong as he marched through to a top-eight finish.

Oliver finished the day in a very respectable 47th place.

The under-13 sabre event proved to be equally as strong, but Elias Jones and Nataniel Slowiakowski both started strongly to secure early victories before losing out in some closely fought matches. However, both did enough to secure promotion to the next stage.

Elias drew a talented Hungarian fencer and went out in his first elimination to finish the day in 73rd spot.

Nataniel, meanwhile, was able to convincingly overcome his German opponent in the first round, before meeting a very physical Polish fencer in the last 64.

The physicality and height of his opponent proved a tricky barrier to overcome and he went out at this stage to finish the day in 52nd.

All of the Wrexham fencers learned much from their first taste of international competition and they were fantastic ambassadors for Wrexham and Wales.

They are eager to return to training after a well-earned Easter break as they all prepare for the upcoming British Youth Championships in May.