Czech tournaments in 2014

There were 5 tournaments organized by 3 different clubs (Digladior, Bellátor and PSA). Each tournament was judged by the main referee Jan Šimek, one of two main lecturers of Digladior, supported by others, such as Lukáš Matuška (lecturer of Digladior) and Anton Kohutovič (head of Trnavský šermiarský cech).

There were 35 competitors of 10 clubs (8 Czech and 2 Slovak), including the only woman, Pavla Markupová (Digladior), in the League. Only 2 fencers appeared in every tournament (Vladimír Nerandžič, Digladior, and Kamil Hozák, PSA) and less than half of competitors participated just in one event. The most successful individual was Kamil Hozák, head of PSA, who won 2 tournaments and also took 3rd place twice. The most successful club was Digladior which won 7 of 15 possible medals during the year (2 golds, 4 silver and 1 bronze) and all of them were 13th or better in the Feder league 2014 system.

The system of the tournament was very similar in each event: The group fights (4 - 6 people per group) and then elimination matches. The number of people qualified for the elimination depended on the organiser of the event as well as on the number of competitors.

Kubelíkův kord - first tournament, February 2014, Prague (co-organised by Digladior)

Kubelíkův kord was the biggest event (among Czech longsword tournaments); it included not only a longsword tournament, but also rapier and dagger tournaments with a sport sabre tournament. At the very heart of Kubelíkův kord lies friendly atmosphere although ultimately it is about finding winners. In 2014, there had been 15 participants in the longsword tournament, each of them fought at least in four matches. The most intensive matches were offered in the very end. Battle between David Novák (Digladior) and Kamil Hozák (PSA) for the 3rd place was ended by one of the most difficult judge’s decisions for Kamil Hozák (7:6). The final drama between Vladimír Nerandžič and Borek Belfín (both Digladior) decided Vladimír´s blow to the Borek´s chest (7:6 for Vladimír Nerandžič). Tournament was also very hard test for Jan Šimek, the main judge, who had to manage 42 matches in less than 5 hours. Jan Šimek’s consistent performance made also a great contribution to the quality of the longsword tournament at the Kubelíkův kord 2014.

Uncut video of final match: http://bit.ly/1GM9umK

Digladior tournament - April 2014, Prague

The second tournament of the Feder league was held in the home gym of Digladior in the centre of Prague. We welcomed competitors from Bellátor (Jihlava) who decided afterwards to organise their own tournament in the autumn 2014. The event of 17 fencers quickly became almost a one-man show. Lukáš Typl (Digladior) was on top form, showing his opponents no mercy.  In the final round, he literally crushed his club mate - the winner of Kubelíkův kord 2013 - Radek Ondra 5:1 leaving a little doubt who was the best that evening. Unfortunately, this tournament was the only one where Lukáš Typl participated in 2014.

Final results: 1. Lukáš Typl, 2. Radek Ondra (both Digladior), 3. Kamil Hozák (PSA), 4. Borek Belfín (Digladior)

Gallery:https://www.digladior.cz/2014/04/12/fedrovny-turnaj-digladioru-11-4-2014/nggallery/slideshow

Digladior tournament - June 2014, Prague

It was the smallest event of the year with only 9 competitors. Due to system of the tournament, the most successful fencers had to fight in 7 matches (the same amount as in previous two tournaments). In the scorching heat Kamil Hozák (PSA) beat Vladimír Nerandžič (Digladior) 5:3 in the final round. The same result achieved Pavel Böhm (Bellátor) winning 3rd place over Pavla Markupová (Digladior).

Bellátor tournament - October 2014, Jihlava

This was the first tournament outside Prague organised by Bellátor. A very promising event with 19 signed fencers, unfortunately, due to injuries and last-minute apologies shrunk in size. Still, there were eleven enthusiastic competitors looking for the “gold”, “silver” and “bronze” medals. Everyone noticed the growing form of Bellátor fencers, Pavel Böhm and Daniel Fraj, which resulted in their great fight during quarterfinals. Daniel Fraj, a bit surprisingly, defeated Pavel 7:5 and moved to the semifinals, where his tournament journey was ended by Vladimír Nerandžič. Afterwards, the fight for the 3rd place was won by Borek Belfín (Digladior), earning his second medal that year. The final match repeated the scenario of the June tournament. Kamil Hozák (PSA) in the tightest match defeated Vladimír Nerandžič 7:6 and was on the way to become the first winner of the Czech and Slovak Feder League.

Uncut video (final and 3rd place): http://bit.ly/1zNP333

Pardubický meč - December 2014, Pardubice (organised by PSA)

Last but not least the Pardubický meč, or the Sword of Pardubice, introduced several notable firsts:  the first tournament with more than 20 competitors; the first tournament with Slovak fencers (6); the first tournament with two parallel arenas; also the first tournament where we could win a sword. The organisers literally put their words where their mouth is as it was a sword made of gingerbread, which Pardubice is a city renowned of making, - more than 30 cm long temptation for the winner of the event.

Group fights prepared a surprise when Pavla Markupová won three times in a row. Although, in the elimination her journey ended early, she reached the overall 9th place out of 21 fencers. Vladimír Nerandžič and Kamil Hozák both finished in the quarterfinal, lost to Martin Fabian 7:5 and to Pavel Böhm 7:4 respectively. It opened a window of opportunity for a completely new face to be crowned the winner of the event. The best fencer of that day became Pavel Böhm (Bellátor) who overcame Martin Fabian (Bratislava Fecht) in an exciting fight 7:6. The 3rd place was seized by enthusiastic Daniel Fraj (Bellátor), defeating Vladimír Šeliga (Bratislava Fecht) also 7:6.

Uncut video (final): http://bit.ly/1M9PBsy

The Feder League ranking 2014 - results

Kamil Hozák of PSA became the very first winner of the Czech and Slovak Feder league, followed by Vladimír Nerandžič of Digladior. Due to the great finish at the end of 2014, the 3rd place went to Pavel Böhm (Bellátor), just 1 point ahead of Borek Belfín (Digladior).

Here is a complete table of all 35 participants in the Feder league. The ranking had been made by following criteria:

a) No. of points (earnings of points are counted by scoring table: it depends on number of participants; 1 point per win fight; 1 point per participation in tournament)

b) The best achieved result

c) How many times (the best result)

d) No. of wins

e) No. of losses

f) No. of tournaments participated

g) Advance to elimination directly (how many times)

(We would like to thank Natalie Nera for her help with English version of this article.)