Competitions – dankew

Alpe Adria – Udine Junior World Cup

As Junior World Cup events go, this has to be one of the best, if not the best in my opinion.

Introduction

This competition seemed to come and go really quickly. We flew in relatively late the day before, went straight to weapons control and then to dinner. We flew back the evening after the fencing, so we were in Udine for probably less than 24 hours.

However, it was a great competion with a really high standard of fencing, plus plenty of emotions on display throughout the day from both the fencers and the coaches. As Junior World Cup events go, this has to be one of the best, if not the best in my opinion.

Years attended – 2020

Venue

Palazzo per l’atletica indoor “Ovidio Bernes”

It’s a fantastic venue with a good space between the pistes, seating along the back with some food/drink on sale, but what really makes it is the big window with an amazing view out to the alps in the distance.

Event Videos

Filippo Armaleo ITA v. Nikita Koshman UKR (:8 fight – 2020)

Andrii Opansenko UKR v. Marco Malaguti ITA (L128 fight – 2020)

Enrico Piatti ITA v. Dmitrii Shvelidze RUS (L16 fight – 2020)

Hotels

I stayed at the Hotel Ramandolo which was around a ten minute walk from the venue. It did the job nicely. There were some restaurants and shops nearby which was handy. No complaints really, would stay there again if I was going to this competition.

Coupe du Monde Basel – Trophée de Bâle

Top tier competion. great venue, plenty of hotels nearby and some wonderful places to eat.

Introduction

Located right on the France and Switzerland border and only a short journey from EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. Our one visit here was fantastic – would have been 2 but due to Covid and a different application of restrictions by France and Switzerland it decided the competion should be moved to Winterthur in 2022. Top tier competion. great venue, plenty of hotels nearby and some wonderful places to eat.

Years attended – 2020

Venue

Pfaffenholz Sports Center

A modern sports facility that quite literally is half in Switzerland and half in France. Inside, it’s quite imposing – almost like a gladitorial arena with it being sunken in to a very imposing concrete structure, with banked concrete seats one side and a viewing balacony all around. There was a smaller side hall, but I didn’t get any pictures of that.

Event Videos

Giulio Gaetani ITA v. Ian Hauri SUI (Team competition – 2020)

Hotels

I stayed in the Hôtel ibis Aéroport Bâle Mulhouse which was a walkable distance to the venue. No complaints there – note that it tends to be slighly cheaper staying on the French side of Basel.

Shops & Places To Eat

We had an excellent meal at Restaurant Tilleul and a few drinks and snacks at Week-End Brasserie. We also gave La Diligence a go, but they literally ignored us for about 15 minutes, so we left.

EFC Thessaloniki

One of the smaller competitions on the calendar, but one I’d definitely recommend to anyone looking to get some more International experience.

Introduction

One of the smaller competitions on the calendar, but one I’d definitely recommend to anyone looking to get some more International experience, as this is definitely a great development event.

Very welcoming, reasonable facilities and Thessaloniki is a nice place to visit, even in the winter!

Years attended – 2022

Venue

Helexpo (Thessaloniki International Trade Fair)

Functional venue for the size of the competition with enough space for fencers and spectators. Fairly centrally located, we took a taxi there in the morning from the hotel but walked back in the evening.

Hotels

We stayed at the Blue Bottle Boutique Hotel which I could not fault. It was was fantastic hotel and I would recommend this as a place to stay in Thessaloniki every time. The rooms were wonderful and the breakfast was sensational. The guys on reception were super helpful in arranging transport for us for competion day and airport transfers.

Shops & Places To Eat

Breakfast at the hotel was a real treat as it was all pretty much made on site – great tasting and super fresh. For lunch we visited Spoon which was also very nice, but also very busy so we had to sit outside under the heaters. Worth it though as the food was great. At the venue there was a food van outside that served some snacks and drinks. As we stayed very centrally in Thessaloniki there were plenty of shops to get anything needed and the venue was also near a fair few shops, all within a few minutes walk.

EFC Belgrade – Belgrade Open

In 2021 the Belgrade Fair hosted the event – a large complex of event halls next to the Sava river on the outskirts of the city.

Introduction

This was the second International event we went to after the Covid restrictions were eased for travelling. At that time in Belgrade there were still many measures in place and the competition was quite obviously affected. However, despite this, it was still a great weekend and is definitely one I would recommend.

In 2021 the Belgrade Fair hosted the event – a large complex of event halls next to the Sava river on the outskirts of the city. It was quite spectactular with all the glass, as you can see in the pictures below.

It’s worth noting though that venues can change for events in Belgrade.

Years attended – 2021

Venue

Belgrade Fair

A stunning hall next to the river. Not really walkable if you’re staying in the city centre, so a taxi is needed to get there. Plenty of space for all the pistes and for spectating. The only negative really was that it was quite hard to get a taxi back to the hotel at the end of the day, but that may have been down to covid and there not being many taxi drivers working.

Event Videos

Liam Kew GBR v. Maksym Perchuk UKR (L16 team competition – 2021)

Igor Chernousov RUS v. Alec Brooke GBR (Semi-final team comp – 2021)

Hotels

The Courtyard Marriott Belgrade City Center was where we stayed and it’s an excellent hotel which I would highly recommend. It is very well situated in central Belgrade with a plenty of restaurants and shops nearby and is only a short taxi ride to the venue which was easily arranged for us by the hotel reception.

Hotel Srbija often comes up as being the recommended place to stay for competitions in Belgrade – I’d suggest far better options exist and staying there wouldn’t be desirable. Some of the GBR squad did and they really regretted it.

Shops & Places To Eat

If you are staying central then there are many small stores and mini-marts to pick up any needed provisions all within a short walk of most hotels. One thing you may need is a Serbian prepaid mobile SIM card (we used A1). These are available from any of the small kiosks dotted around the city.

For places to eat, you are really spoilt for choice. There are many great restaurants around the Republic Square and the surrounding area, We ate at Restaurant Duomo, Restoran Mihailo and Monument Restaurant on this particular trip and I’d happily recommend all three.

I’d also like to mention Red Bread – this is one of the top places I’ve eaten in anywhere in the world. If you have some free time in the morning, then do pay them a visit for some breakfast. It’s sensational.

EFC Luxembourg

Back in 2017 this event was a dry run for Luxembourg to host a FIE Junior World Cup.

Introduction

If my memory is good, this event was a dry run for Luxembourg to host a FIE Junior World Cup, so there were some extra processes, like accreditation and a more thorough weapons control to go through when entering this event.

Since then I believe another cadet event has taken place in Luxembourg at a different venue.

Years attended – 2017

Venue

Lycée Guillaume Kroll

A somewhat fragmented venue, but it appeared to work. Part of the competition was in the foyer of the school and the finals hall, like in Geneva, was in another smaller room (not pictured). The bulk of the action took place in the main hall, as seen below.

Russia v. Italy in what was a very close match

Hotels

It was a late booking as we got a reserve spot on the GBR squad for this event and there was very little hotel availability in Esch-sur-Alzette. With only a week or two before we were due to fly out, Hôtel Acacia was the only viable option. It was OK, but was double the price of what we usually pay.

It was a 30 minute pleasant walk to the venue – don’t make the mistake of getting a taxi as they were eye-wateringly expensive!!

Shops & Places To Eat

The hotel was situated in the heart of Esch-sur-Alzette so there were no problems picking up the needed provisions from the town centre shops.

The two restaurants we ate in were equally nice, but somewhat worlds apart cuisine wise. First up was Restaurant Moustache which served traditional French style dishes, and then on the second night we visited Gangnam Restaurant – a Korean BBQ.