Home » Watch » 06ITA World Championships in Torino » Torino Blog » Oct 1, 2006
Instant Replay Giveth and It Taketh Away
Fencing Pictures is proud to have Bill Ward on the FP Team! Bill is a television videographer/ editor specializing in high definition programming. His work has appeared on The Discovery Channel, HGTV, The Food Network, PBS and other networks. He is currently at work on a documentary chronicling the events of the 2006 season of Women's Saber team, culminating at the World Championships in Korea. Bill and his two children, Rebecca and William, admit to some familiarity with a saber.
Want a jaundiced view of the instant replay system? Ask Tim Morehouse or Keeth Smart. Want a glowing report of how it sets everything in tune with the cosmos?
Ask Won of Korea.
Won won two back to back victories over USA fencers with disputed replay events. In the first, after staging a dramatic comeback to knot the score at 14-all, Tim executes a beat while retreating, and attacks into Won’s advance. Ref gives him the point, match over. Ref is called to replay desk, watches video with FIE officials, comes back out on the floor, awards point and match to Won. Morehouse challenges that ruling, which is upheld in Won’s favor. Morehouse is knocked out in the 32.
Keeth Smart is next for Won in round of 16. At match point, blades are waved, point awarded to Won. Consternation ensues among US officials and replay executives. Gelman, Bukatnz, Korfanty and Burdan are adamant that Won searched for the blade, then continued into Smart’s counterattack. Much pantomiming of blade sequences ensues. This time, the ref refuses to reverse the call, and Won moves on, eventually into the semi-finals.
The women’s foil fencers appeared quite reluctant to ask for a replay, in fact I didn’t see one review request all morning on any of the strips I observed. The men’s saber was quite different; heated requests from the very first eligible match. During the first half of the day, hardly a ref backed off a call. As the day went on, either the refs or the observers got more critical. In the Pozdniako/Boiko bout, the ref reversed himself three straight times on nearly back to back calls.
One is torn between applauding the referee’s courage in embracing new technology, and being appalled that a ref at the World Championship level would miss that many calls back to back.
Just like in the NFL, the instant replay brings all the strip action to a screeching halt. Unlike the NFL, replay officials here in Torino only have one camera angle to review. I think just about everyone agrees the system isn’t quite there yet.
We’ll see tomorrow in Women’s Saber if they have a greater inclination to try the replay gambit than their sister Foil Fencers.