One of our Year 7 students Matthew, was selected to be part of England Fencing's "Tomorrow's Achievers" Epee team and took part in The 21st International Fencing Tournament held in Wroclaw, Poland recently.

He became top English boy, ranked 9th out of 100 U13 boys. In the last 16 he lost 9-10 timed out, to the boy who won eventual silver. Congratulations on your great achievement Matthew from all at Rainford!

Matthew started fencing when he was only seven and has won a number of medals over the last four years in domestic competitions, including Gold in Epee at the 2007 U12 British Youth Championships.

Challenge Wratislavia is attended by hundreds of fencers, from most European countries and a few beyond. In particular, the Russians, Ukrainians and Hungarians, who have dominated world fencing for years, send extensive squads of youngsters to provide tough competition.

A spokesman for England Fencing said "We have been watching Matthew's progress this season, and there is no doubt that he shows great potential. We are very pleased to have him as part of our Tomorrow's Achievers squad for Wroclaw."

Matthew's ambition is to fence in the Olympics. He trains regularly at Cressy fencing club, where his coach, David Burghley says "Matthew works hard at his sport, and thoroughly deserves this chance at international standard competition."