Richard Kruse praised his compatriots’ determination after Great Britain claimed men’s foil team bronze at the 2013 European Fencing Championships.
The 29-year-old was joined by Marcus Mepstead, Keith Cook and James Davis as they went for Great Britain’s second medal from Zagreb – with Davis having already claimed individual foil bronze.
And they comfortably saw off the challenge of Israel 45-31 first up before they stormed into the semi-final with a 45-37 victory over world ranked sixth team France.
In the final four Great Britain fell 45-42 to Poland but replied in style with a 45-33 victory over Russia to claim bronze, and show they are in fine form ahead of August’s trip to Hungary for the World Championships.
“We are delighted to have beaten Russia and France, both of whom are world class teams,” said three-time Olympian Richard Kruse.
“With this new team it is the very first time we've all been fencing at our best at the same time and that is the winning formula for the team event.
“We thought we'd lost our chance to get a medal when losing to Poland in the semis but then upped our game and beat the Russians for the first time in a championship event.”
© Sportsbeat 2013