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Title
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Sands Stars in Paris
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Date
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August 27, 1937
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volume
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2
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issue
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12
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pages
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1, 2, 4
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content
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en
SANDS STARS IN PARIS
Lt. Thomas J. Sands, U.S.A., captain of the American fencers competing in the world's championships in Paris, placed fifth in the individual epee final with a record of 4 victories, 1 tie, and 4 defeats in his last 9 bouts. Sands' performance is the high spot of American international fencing since 1932, and brings him into a select group of American fencers who have been finalists in top-flight competition, including only the late Lt. George C. Calnan, Joseph Levis, John R. Huffman, and Norman C. Armitage.
It is to be remembered that the World's Championships—which were held for the first time this year, although they were formerly known as the European Championships—are in some respects more difficult as a competition than the Olympics. This is true for American fencers, because each country is allowed six individual entries, instead of three as in the Olympics. Since countries like France, Italy, and Hungary have greater general strength, it is more difficult for an American to reach the final round. On the other hand, "Tommy" Sands had a good break when the triple tie for first place between the teams representing Italy, France, and Sweden, compelled these fencers to compete until 3:30 A.M. of the day set for the individual tournament, and may have been partly the cause of the elimination of four members of the victorious Italian team in the first round of the individual contests. Everything considered, Sands' distinguished achievement was one of which American fencing should be proud, and one which augurs well for the future of our international fencing fortunes.
It is to be regretted that The Riposte has not yet received full details as to the championships. We do know, however, that the American epee team composed of Lt. Sands, Capt. Jean V. Grombach, August von Munchhausen, and Philip D. Wiedel, was unable to pass the preliminary round. The American representatives were unable to cope with Belgium, losing 10-5, but then they must have put up a whale of a fight against the Swedish team, losing only by a 9-7 score. When one remembers that three of the American epeeists were fencing in their first international event, and that Sweden tied for first place in the finals, the showing of the American team appears to be quite satisfactory despite the early elimination of the squad. Our Olympic team last year was beaten by Sweden 88 to 72, and Sweden won second place. The results clearly indicate that our international chances of success are greater in the epee than in the other weapons.
The individual epee title was won by Bernard Schmetz, French veteran star, with 9 victories, 0 losses in the final. Coutrot, also representing France, was second with 7 wins, Strasse of Belgium was third with 6, and Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy was fourth with 5 victories. Sands nosed out Captain Antonio Haro Oliva, of Mexico, for the fifth place, and the remaining finalists included Miersch and Kretschmann of Germany, Artigas of France, and Lerdon of Germany, who finished in that order.
The semi-final pools indicate that Sands' fencing was consistently good, as he qualified with plenty to spare, winning 4 bouts and tying one, the same record posted by the Belgian Strasse. In that pool, two renowned European epeeists were eliminated: Drakenberg of Sweden, who won the European title in 1935, and Pecheux of France, winner of the French championship several times, and one of the favorites for the world title this year. Ragno, peppery little Italian who placed second in the Olympics last year, was eliminated in the other semi-final pool.
The final of the team competition resulted in one of the closest contests in many years. The four finalists were Italy, France, Sweden, and Switzerland. Italy, fencing without Riccardi and Cornaggia-Medici, Olympic champions in 1936 and 1932 respectively, squeezed out an 8½-7½ victory over Switzerland in the first match, while France was beating Sweden 10-6. Then the Swedes turned around and beat the Italians, 9-7, while the French were winning from the Swiss by 12-4. Then the Italians rose up and beat the French 9-7, and Sweden crushed Switzerland 16-0. Italy, France, and Sweden tied for first place, each with 2 match victories and 1 defeat.
The fence-off started with a victory for France over Sweden, 8-6 with one tied bout. Then Italy defeated France 9-5, and the final match pitted Italy against Sweden. The Swedes had upset the apple cart for the Italians in the regular final, but the Italians started strongly, building up a 6-1 lead. Sweden pulled up to 8-7 with one bout to go, between the cool Swedish veteran, Thofelt, and Ragno. Italy, in addition to its one-bout lead, was also one touch ahead. Thofelt led, 1-0; Ragno tied it at 1-1; then Thofelt led again at 2-1, and at this point Ragno fleched and forced a double touch—losing the bout to Thofelt 3-2, but tying the match completely, at 8-all in bouts and 35-all in touches. By this close margin, Italy won the championship, having one match victory and one tie; while France had one match victory and one loss. In addition to Ragno, the members of the Italian team were the two Mangiarotti brothers, Dario and Edoardo, Battaglia, Agostini, who was third in the 1932 Olympics, and Visconti, who will be remembered as a member of the team of Italian students who visited the United States in the fall of 1934.
