Nine-year-old Issie Johnson of Three Rivers Young Blades fencing club scooped double medal success at her first public events.

Representing the Rickmansworth club at the Hertfordshire Junior Championships at the University of Hertfordshire, Johnson took gold in the Under-10 girls’ foil category, beating an experienced opponent from Stevenage 8-5 in the final.

The following day Johnson returned from the Leon Paul Junior foil event in Finchley with a silver medal.

Three Rivers Young Blades enjoyed further medal success in Hatfield with Kishan Sisodiya (Under-14 boys), Amanda Mond (Under-14 girls) and Jasmine Porter (Under-16 girls) all winning gold in their foil events.

Meanwhile, James Hall was victorious in the over-13 boys’ sabre event. There were also bronze medals for Phoebe Dolan (Under-14 girls), Dan Darby (Under-14 boys) and Michael Lown (Under-20 boys).

Commenting on the win, chairman Mike Ellis said: “It was very gratifying to see all our fencers’ hard work in training pay off with their medal successes this weekend and a testament to the highly professional and hard working group of coaches that we have at the club.

“Issie’s success in two competitions on successive days was particularly satisfying as she came through our dedicated beginners training course not very long ago and has now been able to put into practice what she has been learning at the club when competing with fencers from across the county and further afield.”