Epee Team Results
Item
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Title
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Epee Team Results
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Date
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August 1936
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volume
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1
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issue
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16
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pages
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1, 3
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content
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en
EPEE TEAM RESULTS
A heart-breaking defeat, 8½ to 7½, at the hands of Sweden's surprisingly strong team, eliminated the Americans in the epee team semi-finals. 8-8 our team had earlier been beaten 12-4 by Italy’s champion team. There were 21 teams in the competition.
The epee team had a definite plan of strategy, starting Heiss, Righeimer, Sands, and Jueckel with the intention of retaining these 4 men as long as they performed well. Substitution was to be made only to replace a starter who did badly in a match.
The first round pitted the United States against Denmark and Holland. These two countries met first, and Holland staged a great comeback to beat Denmark 9½ to 6½ after trailing 6-0. The demoralized Danish team was easy for the Americans, who won 9-3. Righeimer starred with 3 wins, 0 losses. Sands won 3, lost 1; Heiss won 2, lost 1; and Jueckel broke even at 1-1.
The same line-up started against Czechoslovakia in the second round, and won 10-6. Heiss starred with 4 victories, Sands won 3, Righeimer 2, and Jueckel 1. Italy, the third team in the pool, beat the Czechs easily.
In the semi-finals, Italy fenced the United States. Here Jueckel was taken out, and Jose de Capriles went in. For the Americans, Sands starred with 3 wins, fencing beautifully and shutting out 3-0 the new Olympic champion, Riccardi. Jose de Capriles, after a slow start, found himself in his fourth bout and beat Cornaggia-Medici, 1932 Olympic champion and the only Italian to beat Tommy Sands. Heiss and Righeimer each lost 4, 5 of the 8 bouts being lost 3-2. Italy won 12-4 while Sweden was beating Portugal.
The match between Sweden and the U.S. came next. A sudden shift in plan of strategy caused the rotation of Heiss and Righeimer and the withdrawal of de Capriles, with Andy Boyd substituting. After the Swedes had gotten off to a 3-1 lead, the Americans rallied to obtain a 5½ to 3½ advantage. Sweden won 3 in a row to lead by one point, and then Heiss tied the score by beating Drakenberg, 1935 European champion, 3-0. The latter, incidentally, made only 1 touch in 4 bouts against the U.S.A. Granfelt and Brysson then beat Righeimer and Sands to clinch the match.
Andy Boyd won his last bout to finish with the best record for the match, 2½ wins. Heiss and Righeimer broke even, 2-2, while Sands, probably worn out after his brilliant finish against the Italians, won only twice. Sweden won 8½ to 7½ to earn the place in the final with Italy, who beat Portugal easily.
On the other strip, Germany beat a favored Belgium team and reached the final with France. There, the Italians won an easy victory, while Sweden nosed out France for second place on touches after tying 8-all in bouts.
Although he lost three bouts against the Swedes, Tommy Sands was outstanding for the Americans. Although it is always easy to second-guess, we believe it was a technical error to try to beat Italy in the semi-final, as it was obvious that the Italians would reach the final anyway and that our best chance was to concentrate against the Swedes and Portuguese. Two of the three men who fenced in every match could have been rested, while both substitutes would have had the opportunity to taste Olympic competition. Then if the team reached the finals, that was the place to try to beat Italy.
Whether the original plan would have worked depended on whether Jose de Capriles could have won more than 2 bouts. The six men on the epee team were closely balanced in ability, and it is hard to choose between a fresh man and an experienced one. It was impossible to tell, therefore, whether the original plan would have produced victories against Sweden and Portugal.
M. A. de C.
