Kruse takes fifth place at Paris World Cup
Senior Men’s Foil – Paris World Cup
Richard Kruse returned to great form in Paris at the weekend securing a quarterfinal place at one of the toughest World Cup’s on the men’s foil circuit. He was one of eight British competitors at the event in a field of two hundred and eleven and his world ranking meant that he qualified automatically for the second day of the tournament. He began the day beating two Russian fencers – Pivovarov 15-7 and Komissarov 15-8. He followed that up by beating Italian, Foconi 15-13 before losing his quarterfinal match 15-11 to Ha of Korea.
Taegyu Ha shared the bronze medal position with Italy’s Giorgio Avola and America’s world number one, Alex Massialas took the title beating Russian fencer, Timur Safin in the final.
Ben Peggs and Kamal Minott were eliminated in the third preliminary knockout fight on day one, Harry Bird made the second preliminary knockout but Samuel Finch, Jai Birch, Dominic De Almeida and Rajan Rai did not make it out of the poules.
Britain lined up for the team event with Birch, Bird, Minott and Peggs in a field of twenty-four. A bye through the round of 32 was followed up by a 45-28 defeat to Germany. In the placings matches they beat Canada 45-29, lost 45-26 to Hong Kong but then beat Brazil 45-43 to secure eleventh place. Italy defeated France to win the title as the USA beat Japan to the bronze medal.
Senior Women’s Epee – Barcelona World Cup
Two British fencers were amongst a field of two hundred and twelve in Spain at the weekend. Hannah Nesbitt did not survive the poules stage but Julie Henson recorded three victories from six fights to progress to the preliminary qualifying round. She had a bye through the first of three fights but then lost 15-11 to Bekefi (GER). Sun Yiwen of China won the gold medal beating Estonia’s Irina Embrich in the final. Melissa Goram of France shared the bronze medal position with Emese Szasz of Hungary.
Great Britain did not enter the team event but twenty-one other countries did. China won the title, beating Estonia in the final as Russia beat France for the bronze medal.
Junior Men’s Sabre – Phoenix World Cup
There were just sixty-nine entries into this American event at the weekend including Noah Mattriciani from Great Britain. He won three of his six first round matches which was enough to get him into the knockout stages. He then lost 15-10 to Trochez (COL) in the round of 64.
America’s, Karol Metryka won the event beating Matteo Neri of Italy in the final. Another Italian, Leonardo Dreossi shared the bronze medal place with Riccardo Masarin of the USA.
Cadet Men’s Epee – Luxembourg
There were fifteen British entries amongst the field of one hundred and thirty-six in Luxembourg at the weekend. Benjamin Andrews secured the best result by making the top 32. He won four from five fights in the first round and went on to beat Volk (GER) 15-4 and Dehn (GER) 15-6 before just losing 15-14 to Jean Joseph (FRA). Jack Bell, Dominic Paul, Ethan Kew and Alexander Papadopoulos made the round of 64, Jacob Foulsham, Billy Shepherd, Joshua Willcox, James Wake and Dylan Morrison were eliminated in the round of 128 but Harry Baston-Hall, Robbie Brown, Nathan Foster, Murray Begley-Jones and Myles Ashforth did not make it out of the poules.
Giulia Gaetani (ITA) won the event by beating Igor Korovin (RUS) in the final. Two other Italians shared the bronze medal position – Filippo Armaleo and Riccardo Masarin.
There were nineteen entries into the team event including three from Great Britain. GBR 2 (Ashforth, Baston Hall, Wake & Willcox) finished twelfth, GBR 1 (Shepherd, Paul, Bell & Morrison) were thirteenth and GBR 3 (Kew, Foster & Brown) were seventeenth. Russia 1 took the title, beating Italy 1 in the final. Russia 2 beat Switzerland to the bronze medal.
Cadet Women’s Epee – Luxembourg
Another fifteen British entries lined up in a field of one hundred and thirty-one fencers in the women’s event. Avery Louis and Jasmine Heaps achieved the best result by finishing in the top 16. Louis (V4D2) and Heaps (V2D4) progressed through the first round to make the elimination stages. Louis went on to beat Haeusler (GER) 15-8, Mayer (GER) 15-13 and Bararra (ITA) 15-9 before losing 15-7 to Pizzini (ITA). Meanwhile, Heaps beat Kooiman (NED) 13-11, Serbot (FRA) 10-9 and Leonte (ROU) 14-13 before going out 15-14 to Grasso (ITA).
Laura Sheffield, Maia Henderson-Roe, Elena Palano, Sarah Spice and Rachel Barnes made the round of 64, Taylor Foxwell Moss, Louise Sadler, Alexandra Powell, Rachel Lever and Lulu Willett were eliminated in the round of 128 but Alex Stewart, Jacqueline Oien and Messina Herrling did not make the first round cut.
Gaia Traditi (ITA) beat Sara Maria Kowalczyk (ITA) in the gold medal match whilst their teammate Alessia Pizzini shared third place with German, Helena Lentz.
In the team event, GBR 1 (Powell, Foxwell Moss, Heaps & Louis) just missed out on a medal by finishing fourth. They beat Spain 45-27 and Romania 40-39 to make the semi-finals where they lost 45-27 to Estonia. They were then beaten 45-35 in the bronze medal match by Italy 2. GBR 3 (Lever, Stewart & Barnes) finished eleventh and GBR 2 (Sadler, Herrling & Henderson-Roe) were fifteenth. Italy 1 went on to win the event, beating Estonia 45-38 in the final.
Cadet Men’s Foil – Pisa
Another fifteen British fencers were entered into this Italian event at the weekend. James Rutherford and Edmund Howlett got the best results by making the round of 32 in a field of one hundred and sixty-two.
Both scrapped through the first round as Rutherford won two fights from five and Howlett took two victories from six. Rutherford then beat Sirb (ROU) 15-13 and Nedeljkovic (HUN) 15-11 before losing 15-12 to Cangelosi (ITA). Howlett beat Martini (ITA) 15-6 and Condiff (USA) 15-12 but then lost 15-9 to Marini (ITA). Matthew Abrahams, Brij Gautam, Douglas Ashby and Luca Plastow made the round of 64, Benjamin Udrzal, Samuel Wilson, Isaac Jolley, Dylan Morrison, Anton Fenyk and Harri Hayes were eliminated in the round of 128 but Alessandro Gill, Dan Summerfield and Jacob Forey-Miller did not make it out of the poules.
Andrew Machovec (USA) beat Francesco Pio Iandolo (ITA) in the final and Federico Colmarco (ITA) and Joon Pail (USA) were the bronze medallists.
Cadet Women’s Foil – Pisa
There were fifteen British entries in the women’s event in Pisa at the weekend making up part of the field of one hundred and sixty-two. Phoebe Newton-Hughes got the top result by finishing in the top 32. She won five of her six first round fights and then beat teammate Hardie 15-12 and Rapinese (ITA) 15-8 before losing 15-9 to Tieu (USA). May Tieu went on to secure the bronze medal which she shared with Claudia Memoli (ITA). Martina Favaretto (ITA) beat Lauren Screggs (USA) to take the title.
Seville Babaeva, Teagan Williams-Stewart and Bronwen Granville made the round of 64, Yasmin Campbell, Arianna Balestrieri, Emily Beardmore, Madeleine Brown, Heloise Hardie, Becci Curwen, Amy Home and Charity Weeks were all eliminated in the round of 128 but Georgia Silk, Sophie Peake and Amanda Mond did not make it through the poules stage.
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