Unexpected

Today, I fenced in the Cambridge County Individual 'MegaFoil' Competition. Recently, with competitions, I have been intending to just score points, and try to fence my best. I frequently see people smacking themselves over the head in exasperation and fury as they loose matches. I want to just fence at a competition and feel completely relaxed.
There were two rounds of poules. I won the first set, loosing only five points, and came second in the second set, loosing one match and two other points. The man I lost to was also in the first poule. I had beaten him 5-2. He then beat me 5-2. The DE's got underway, and I told myself to remain focused and to remain calm. I won the first match, and then the second, and then the third. I hadn't been expecting it, but I was suddenly in the final. I didn't really have time to feel shocked, and I was just trying to remain calm. This became quite hard when I realised my opponent was none other than the man who I had beaten in the first poule, who had then beaten me. He was obviously a favourite to win, seeing as though he had most of the room in his corner. Every time he scored a hit, applause rang in the air, along with shouts of 'Come on!' and other such encouragement. There were only three people from my club backing me. It was fairly discouraging, but it made me all the more determined to score hits off him.

Most of that match passed in a blur. Eventually, I began the final three minutes with the score of 10-10. My opponent promptly scored the first hit, much to the crowd's pleasure. It was then that I made a counter-attack, expecting him to parry it. Instead, I hit him just below the arm. 11-11. I then realised what had happened. My opponent had grown relaxed with the first hit, and he had let his guard slip. This seemed to spark the idea off in me that he was more than beatable. He was just any other fencer. Any fencer can make mistakes. They just need to be exploited. Confidence and adrenaline running, I attacked. After a minute and a half, I had beaten him, 15-11. Afterwards, people asked me what it felt like to have won the competition. To be honest, I didn't feel anything. It was simply a quiet satisfaction of my achievement, and confidence in my abilities. It was a good day, all in all. I felt great then, but I'm exhausted now! That's probably one thing that was expected.