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Title
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Cantor Scores Brilliant Victory in Sabre
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Date
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June 22, 1937
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volume
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2
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issue
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10
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pages
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1, 3
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content
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en
CANTOR SCORES BRILLIANT VICTORY IN SABRE
Irving E. ("Chips") Cantor, long rated by sabremen as a first-class fencer, but never before winner of an important sabre championship, scored the season's upset by capturing the Outdoor Sabre Championship at Travers Island. John R. Huffman, indoor Champion, was second by the margin of one touch over Miguel de Capriles. Norman Armitage, Samuel T. Stewart, and James H. Flynn, finished in that order.
Cantor had rough going most of the way, all of his bouts being decided by close scores. He lost to M. de Capriles in the preliminary and again in the semi-final, by 5-4 scores, and to Ralph Marson by a similar count in the semi-final. But in the final, Cantor rose to great heights in turning back Armitage 5-3 in his first bout; then lost to Dr. Huffman whom he had beaten in the semi-final; vanquished Stewart in a tough battle 5-4, and gained revenge on M. de Capriles, also 5-4. In his last bout, with the title at stake, he outscored Dr. Flynn 5-3. In many of his victories Cantor was behind by 3-0 and 3-1 scores and came back with a rush to win. It was a popular victory for last year's No. 9 ranking sabreman, who until then was still ranked as a junior. It will be recalled that Cantor was a finalist in the indoor championship this year.
Dr. Huffman was not up to his best form, as long hours in laboratory research obviously took their toll. As it was, he had lost only one bout, to Cantor before the final. Then, in the first final bout, he lost to Stewart 5-3, rallied to win over Cantor, Flynn, and Armitage, and then lost a tie for the title when he was beaten 5-1 by M. de Capriles. The latter was in good form during most of his bouts, but dropped three 5-4 decisions during the tournament—first in the semi-final to Nick Muray and then to Flynn and Cantor in the final.
Armitage was also below his best, showing the effects of his absence from training because of law examinations. He lost 5-4 to Dr. Ervin S. Acel in the preliminary, and to Hugh Alessandroni by the same score in the semi-final. Then he was upset by Cantor, Huffman, and M. de Capriles by 5-3 scores in the final, but placed 4th over Stewart by a 5-touch margin. Stewart won both of his preliminary bouts, then lost by 5-3 scores to Armitage and Acel in the semi-final, and to Cantor, Armitage, and M. de Capriles by 5-4, 5-1, and 5-3 respectively in the final. Still, Stewart finished in 5th position, the same he earned in the indoor national championship.
Next to Cantor, however, the big upsetter of the tournament was Flynn, a much improved junior from the Salle Santelli, who outscored Jose de Capriles, Hugh Alessandroni and Dr. Acel by 2 touches to gain the final round. Flynn won twice in the preliminaries, losing only to Dr. Huffman by 5-4, then lost to Armitage, Stewart, and J. de Capriles by close scores in the semi-final, and proceeded to win over Acel and Alessandroni by wide enough margins to qualify. After Flynn upset M. de Capriles in the final, he lost close bouts to Cantor and Stewart but was blanked by Huffman and Armitage. It was the first national final for Flynn and he performed creditably.
Jose de Capriles, runner-up in the indoor championship, was not fencing in effective style, although all three of his defeats in the semi-final were close. Nickolas Muray, veteran Olympian, also had tough going. He was beaten by the rampant Flynn 5-3 in the preliminary, and by Huffman and Cantor in the semi-final. His third loss, to Bruce Wallis 5-4, forced him out of the tournament. It was Wallis' only victory in the second round.
Dr. Acel, 3rd place winner last year, was erratic. He won from Armitage and Kapner in the first round, but lost to Marson and Hal Ellson. He failed to reach the final by a margin of two touches. Ralph Marson, the junior champion, lost only to Armitage in the preliminary, but could not get going in the semi-final and was only able to beat Cantor 5-4 in his last bout. Arthur MacArthur, Philadelphia Outdoor Champion, showed promise but is as yet too inexperienced.
