HUNTINGINDON Fencing Club’s Richard Sage is heading to Krems in Austria for the 2012 Veterans World Championships.

Sage, 52, who lives in Hilton and fences for the Huntingdonshire club in St Neots, is travelling to the tournament on the back of winning a gold medal – and two silvers – at the Commonwealth Championships in Singapore at the end of September.

The gold came in the veterans foil competition there – but perhaps more impressively, the silvers both came in the all-ages competition, one as an individual, and one as a member of the England team who beat Scotland in their semi-final before losing to Australia in the final.

“I was thrilled with the result,” he told The Hunts Post. “A gold in my age-group and two silvers at a Commonwealth is a fantastic result.

“Clearly I would like to have won the final fight for the overall gold but I beat a Malaysian, two Austrians and another Brit to get to the final and there’s no disgrace in losing in the final to the Australian No 1 who is seven years younger than me.”

Sage has a long history in the sport, he began at the age of 11 and fenced for Great Britain’s under-20s’ squad after winning a number of county, regional and open titles during his teenage years. He has lived in the Huntingdonshire area since the late 1980.

Sage has represented Great Britain at the last two veterans’ world championships and the last two Europeans championships.

“I usually fence at the Huntingdon Fencing Club at St Neots – but with the world championships coming up, I have been training in London,” he told The Hunts Post.

It has been a busy couple of weeks for the Hunts club, with members in action at the Great Yarmouth Foil and Essex Open, as well as the Bedford Open Epee which took place last weekend.

George Partridge fought his way into the last 16 in the men’s event at Bedford to finish 13th overall. Jason Presland and Tim Bissell reached the last 32 to finish 24th and 26th respectively.

In the women’s event, Beatriz Verastegui went one better than she had in Eseex, taking the silver medal, having made it to the final undefeated.

Kieran Presland won a silver medal in the junior event in Yarmouth, while his brother Jason Presland won a silver by beating his own father Shane an emotionally charged semi-final.

After a 15-year break from the sport, Clare Waldron to took the gold medal in the women’s foil by beating Yarmouth fencer Danni Kingston in the final.

At the Essex Open, one of the strongest events in the fencing calendar, Silvia Earlcame, who was seeded fifth in the women’s sabre, won a silver medal, while Verastegui took her well-earned bronze after losing in the semi-finals to No 3 seed Mary Cohen.