LIGHTSPEED SABER RESULTS

WINNERS

Rob Chan (KC)
Tony Zaldua (KB)
John Mullins (KC)

PROMOTIONS & RE-GRADES

Rob Chan promoted to A
John Mullins promoted to C
Chawan Akkharachotmongkhol debuts at C
Jose Ortiz-Miranda re-earns D
Dinah Kolasa promoted to D
Jacob Areias promoted to D
Eugene Napangue debuts at E

SOFTSWORD RESULTS

WINNERS

Jose Ortiz-Miranda (KB)
Jowanna Lewis (FA)
Ian Ugay

PROMOTIONS & RE-GRADES

Jose Ortiz-Miranda promoted to E
Jowanna Lewis debuts at E
Ian Ugay debuts at E
Walter Simbol re-earns E

BUNAL BRAND

Filipino Martial Arts Equipment

On account of the rain 3 weeks ago, the fencers of Swords n Sabers I were eager to get back into the action, and Swords n Sabers II did not disappoint.

SOFTSWORD

The day began with Lightspeed’s second foray into the Softsword format (with weapons supplied by sponsor Bunal Brand FMA Equipment). Boasting three E’s from the previous event, the tournament was set to award the format’s first ‘D’ grade by the end of the day. However, while the tournament’s competitors were very evenly matched— featuring an extremely tight race for 4th position— the day was ultimately won by the newcomers, Jowanna Lewis and Ian Ugay, knocking the tournament down to a rating of E2.

Newcomer Ian Ugay was definitely a wildcard, spending much of the tournament with a very casual and difficult to read style, often appearing unprepared during bouts, only to suddenly explode, stunning his opponents with his speed and timing.

Jowanna Lewis was surely the talk of the tournament, as she was already a known top competitor in the standard Lightspeed space, reigning as women’s champion for 2018 and 2022. It was unknown how she would fare in a totally unfamiliar format. But as it turned out, Jowanna’s method of patience and laying out hard punishments against mistakes arguably fit even better into Softsword than Lightspeed Saber, and she excelled in her debut tournament, doing well enough to ultimately go into the finals against Jose Ortiz-Miranda.

Ortiz-Miranda’s performance was similarly strong in the pool, taking only one loss and narrowly edging out Lewis in their first encounter. Ortiz-Miranda ultimately took out another strong newcomer, Ian Ugay, and Lewis took out prior ‘E’ Walter Simbol.

In the final bout between Ortiz-Miranda and Lewis, Lewis came out with a strong start, netting the first few points in a very low scoring format. Ortiz-Miranda looked to be in trouble, making multiple mistakes that Lewis quickly capitalized on. However, Ortiz-Miranda rallied, and the match went to time in Ortiz-Miranda’s favor, ending at 8-5. Lewis took silver, but it was a remarkable debut performance. Ian Ugay defeated Walter Simbol to take bronze.

LIGHTSPEED

The Lightspeed event was about twice the size of Softsword, and, with the presence of top competitors such as current champion Tony Zaldua, former ‘B’ competitor Rob Chan, and ‘D’ competitor Jose Ortiz-Miranda, this event was sure to award some high ratings.

The event was populated with newcomers, including Chawan Akkharachotmongkhol and Balintawak Master Eugene Nepangue, and Irving Corona from Krait Base, and Nick Martinez from Knight Club (Irvine). John Mullins, Jacob Areias, and Earlwin Famor rounded out the E’s for this tournament.

Newcomer Chawan Akkharachotmongkhol was probably the most interesting fencer in Box 1. Coming from a kali background, he had the most adjustments to make to fit into the open novice section of the tournament. However, he adapted quickly, and immediately changed his style to not only lighten up his strikes, but also massively improve his game, ultimately leading him to take 2nd in the pools.

Akkharachotmonkhol ultimately had to bow down to champion Tony Zaldua, however, who took down his Box 1 opponents with characteristic strike accuracy, and a strong preference for defense, seemingly as a warm up for the harder fights to come. Zaldua dominated the pools as is typical for him.

In Box 2, the big story was Dinah Kolasa, a new and unranked competitor but one with several tournaments under hre belt already. It was known to be an uphill battle for her from the start, but the challenge proved to be a boon to her, as she stunned her opponents with great dodges and excellent body and hand placement, ensuring she was in prime position to attack clean against her opponent’s misses.

By the second half of the night, newcomers Nepangue and Akkharachotmongkhol were in the bracket, along with Dinah Kolasa, who was making to the brackets for the first time in her Lightspeed career. Teammates John Mullins and Jacob Areias also made, with Areias entering the bracket for the first time since the Summer Slash series in 2021. Rob Chan, Jose Ortiz-Miranda, and Tony Zaldua rounded out the top.

Irvine Knights Kolasa and Areias were knocked out in the first round by Chan and Akkharachotmongkhol, respectively, while Zaldua and Nepangue had a close fight, but Zaldua eventually come out on top. In a very tough and close fight, John Mullins and Jose Ortiz-Miranda fought for the ability to earn a C, the grade Ortiz-Miranda had been gunning for more than two years. However, however, Mullins kept his lead, and at the end of time, took the match at 11-8.

In the semis, it was Mullins versus Zaldua and Chan versus Akkharachotmongkhol. These matches went to the best of 3 rounds. Zaldua and Chan each easily dismantled these opponents, sending Mullins and Akkharachotmongkhol to the bronze match.

Finally, it came down to match that everyone was anticipating even before the tournament began. Chan and Zaldua had last met in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit, with Chan eliminating Zaldua in the semis. It appeared that Chan hadn’t lost a step, as he dominated Zaldua in the first round. Chan took an early lead in round 2, though Zaldua started to gain some momentum and netted a few clean points. However, Zaldua wasn’t ready to go against Chan’s incredible speed, which put the champion on the back foot for the entire match, and even his resurgence in round 2 wasn’t able to save him. Chan took both rounds and the tournament. Zaldua earned silver, and Mullilns took 3rd from the bronze medal match.

Overall it was a stunning tournament. The champion was taken down. A new ‘A’, only the second in the league’s history, was earned by Chan. A new fighter, Chawan Akkharachotmongkhol, debuted at C, and two Irvine Knights jumped two grades, John Mullins from E to C and Dinah Kolasa from U to D. What will the future hold? We won’t know until October 29, when Lightspeed Saber SoCal does it again at the Samhain Smash in Escondido. See you then!