Jacob Crook and Lorraine Tang shine on Day Two
Having finished 15th at the 2025 iteration of the event in Bali in Indonesia, Jacob Crook has gone on a magical run to go one round better in 2026 – finishing in eighth at the 2026 Senior Asian Fencing Championships in Delhi, India.
And Lorraine Tang went one better from her 36th place finished in 2025 – getting into the round of 32 in the Individual Women’s Sabre event and placing 31st.
Crook lost his T8 match against world number 1 Koki Kano 15-9 in a tight battle – down 2-1 at the end of period one, 8-4 at the end of the second and unable to pull the gap back in the last.
But it was the run through to the match that set India ablaze in green and gold.
After navigating through his pool 3-2, Crook had a tight R64 bout against Vadim Anokhin of Uzbekistan, getting over the line in that match 15-2. He then proceeded to the round of 32 where he made light work of Qatar’s Abdulrahman Al Jadra 15-5 to book a spot in the final 16 with Chinese fencer Fengming Yang.
Crook opened up a 4-1 lead against Yang early before the match see-sawed, and at the second break the score was tied 7-7. Keeping his composure Crook was flawless in the final period to take the match 15-12 and earn our best result at the event so far.
Other Australian fencers in action in the Men’s Individual Epee competition were Lachlan Crook, Isaac Hayes and Darcy McClelland.
Lachlan Crook and Hayes both made it out of the pools and into the table of 64, but unfortunately both lost their next matches.
Crook went down to Kyrgyzstan’s Rustam Islamov 15-4 which was a tough match up – especially considering that Ismaov went on to finish the event in sixth overall.
Hayes was unable to get past Japan’s Akira Komata (12th overall) going down 15-5 – and it was a tough day at the office for McClelland who had a 1-5 record in the pools and miss the 64 cut-off by one spot.
In the Women’s Sabre event Tang was the only Australian representing our country, and she certainly did us proud. She certainly did not have it all her way in the pools but managed to get through to the T64 after going 1-4.
But she found her rhythm in the table of 64 wiping the floor with her Thai opponent Kanrawee Teeka – getting through to the next round with a 15-5 win.
From there Tang progressed into the table of 32 where she battled bravely against Japan’s Yui Sano but went down 15-9. Sano went on win the whole competition and be crowned Asian Champion.
Speaking soon after his incredible run ended, Jacob Crook said he couldn’t be happier with how the day panned out.
“I’m stoked about my result today,” he said.
“Obviously I’m upset with the loss but seeing the upwards trajectory of my results and getting to start to fence the top ranked fencers is so fun.
“Hopefully I can be up in those spots soon enough!
“Huge credit to the boys and the support with each match. Having the energy right from the start really makes these comps what they are.”
Tang was also happy with how she performed when she managed to reflect on her best international senior competition result.
“I felt a roller coaster of emotions during the day,” she admitted.
“I had a pretty rough time in pools and I wasn’t sure if I had done enough to make it out but I feel really lucky and relieved that I did. I had to fence the girl I lost to in pools in the 64 and I was able to keep my mental cool and beat her so I’m really happy about that.
“I love how supportive everyone on the Australian team is. I can always hear them cheering me on from the sidelines or the stands and it gives me that extra motivation to keep going.
“I’m really happy with the result. It’s better than I did last year so it tells me that the training and hard work I’m doing back home is working!”
For a full list of results from the event and the rest of the competition schedule head to: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/