Kruse finishes the season ranked sixth in the World

The World Championships concluded in Leipzig, Germany yesterday with Richard Kruse achieving the best GB result by finishing in the top eight of the Men’s Foil individual.

An event summary follows.

Day 1

Men’s Sabre

There were four British fencers in the line up of one hundred and thirty athletes in the men’s sabre event.  Jonathan Webb (V5D1) did enough in the first round to qualify directly for the table of 64.  Will Deary (V4D2), James Honeybone (V5D1) and Curtis Miller (V3D2) all did enough to qualify for the preliminary knockout phase of the competition.  In the first of two qualifiers all three had byes and then Deary beat Ibragimov (KAZ) 15-7, Honeybone defeated Jaskot (POL) 15-5 and Miller knocked out Streets (JPN) 15-12.

In the round of 64, Honeybone beat Ocinski (POL) 15-12 but Deary lost 15-12 to Gemesi (HUN), Oh (KOR) defeated Miller 15-11 and Wagner (GER) beat Webb 15-11.  In the next round Honeybone put in a strong performance against double Olympic Champion, Aron Szilagyi but lost 15-10.

Andras Szatmari (HUN) took the title, beating Gu Bongil (KOR) in the final as Vincent Anstett (FRA) and Kamil Ibragimov (RUS) collected the bronze medals.

Day 2

Women’s Sabre

Aliya Itzkowitz was the only British entry in a field of one hundred and eight.  She took three victories from six first round matches which was enough to qualify for the next round.  She then beat Page (CAN) 15-13 to qualify for the round of 64 where she lost 15-8 to Vecchi (ITA).

After a late start to the season Olga Kharlan (UKR) came good and took the World title beating Azza Besbes (TUN) in the final.  Irene Vecchi (ITA) and Cecilia Berder (FRA) were the bronze medallists.

Day 3

Men’s Foil

On hundred and fifty-seven athletes lined up for this event including four from Great Britain.  Richard Kruse had a bye straight through to the round of 64.  James Davis (V5D1), Marcus Mepstead (V4D2) and Kamal Minott (V2D3) all qualified for the knockout phase.  David and Mepstead had a bye through the first of two pre-qualifiers as Minott joined them with a 15-7 victory over Tsevan (BLR).  In the second qualifier Davis beat Hatoel (ISR) 15-6, Mepstead took out Rzadkowski (POL) 15-14 but Minott lost narrowly 15-14 to Pogrebniak (UKR).

In the 64 Davis lost 15-11 to Cheremisinov (RUS) 15-11 and Mepstead fell 15-12 to Meinhardt (USA) but Kruse took out Choi (HKG) 15-4.  He went on to beat Minuto (TUR) 15-5 and Meinhardt 15-7 to make the quarterfinals where he lost 15-11 to Saito (JPN).

Toshiya Saito went on to take the silver medal as Dmitry Zherebchenko (RUS) claimed the title.  Olympic Champion, Daniele Garozzo (ITA) had to settle for the bronze medal along with Takahiro Shikine (JPN).

Day 4

Men’s Team Sabre

There were twenty-eight teams in this event including Great Britain who lined up with Will Deary, James Honeybone, Curtis Miller and Jonathan Webb.  They beat Colombia 45-30 in the round of 32 but then lost 45-29 to Iran.  In the placings matches they lost 45-39 to Belarus, 45-32 to Canada and 45-41 to Japan to finish sixteenth.

Korea took the title beating Hungary in the final as Italy beat the USA to finish in the bronze medal position.

Day 6

Men’s Team Foil

Great Britain lined up with James-Andrew Davis, Marcus Mepstead, Kamal Minott and Ben Peggs in a field of thirty teams.  They beat Sweden 45-27 in the round of 32 before losing a closely fought match against Italy 45-37.  In the placings matches, they lost 45-28 to Ukraine and then beat Chile 45-20 and Egypt 45-35 to finish thirteenth.

Italy took the title beating the USA as France took the bronze medal by beating Russia.

Full results here.

The final medal table is available here.

The GBR team officials included Cyril Tahon (Sabre Coach), Pierre Harper (Foil Coach) and Paul Wedge (Team Manager).