Rory shines with a victory in Barcelona
Salle Ossian star wins prestigious Under 14 event
Rory with coach Phil Carson after the triumph in Barcelona Rory McLellan is a name to watch out for in the world of fencing.
The Salle Ossian Fencing Club member has won the prestigious Trofeu Sant Jordi in Barcelona, one of the largest competitions on the Under 14 international circuit.
Despite picking up a hand injury in his semi-final, the Perth High School pupil (14) opted to continue before booking his place in the final. He impressed to win 15-9.
Coach at Salle Ossian, Phil Carson, talked up the significance of the Spanish triumph and is now excited for Rory’s next steps in the sport.
“This is the first international win by a junior fencer from Great Britain for about five years, so pretty significant,” Carson said.
“There were sixty fencers mainly from the big clubs in Barcelona, including the Spanish junior champion.
“Rory is actually the youngest on our training team. In the past couple of years he has been beaten 3-4 nights a week by the majority of the Scottish junior fencing team.
“But he is very resilient, has a great work ethic and has worked hard to become as good as any on the team.
“Rory is now setting his sights on the Great Britain Under 17 team and hopes to be selected for World and European Championships to represent GB.
“At this stage it’s about developing his tactical and competition experience, but there is no reason he can’t progress quickly in Perth at the only dedicated training centre in Scotland for the sport.”
Salle Ossian, based on Friarton Road, is a club packed full of talent. And Carson sees no reason why the success can’t continue.
He said: “We now have over 40 members and another 150 kids in Perthshire schools. We’re planning to expand our premises in 2018 and take on more classes.
“Salle Ossian are currently the Scottish, British and Commonwealth champions at both junior and senior levels.
“Next steps are to work towards the junior Commonwealth Championships in Canberra Australia and the Senior Commonwealth Championships in Vancouver Canada.
“These are both in the second half of 2018 and at which we expect Rory to be representing Scotland.”