Best individual result for a GB fencer this year

Richard Kruse secured his best result for two years by coming third at the Men’s Foil World Cup in Seoul, Korea last weekend.

He came through the qualification rounds on day one of the event to draw teammate, James Davis, in the round of 64.  This was unfortunate as they were the only remaining British fencers in the tournament.  Clearly not fazed by drawing his compatriot, Kruse progressed with a 15-8 victory.  He followed that up with a 15-14 victory over Erwan Le Pechoux (FRA) and a 15-12 victory over Edoardo Luperi (ITA) to make the quarterfinals. 

There he made light work of the World number four, Jianfei Ma (CHN), beating him 15-8 to guarantee the bronze medal.  It was Race Imboden (USA) that ended up knocking him out 15-8 in the semi-final.

An all American final followed with Imboden facing Alex Massialas for the gold medal with the latter winning 15-11.

Speaking in transit to Tokyo, for the next event this coming weekend, Head Coach, Andrey Klyushin said; “Richard and James qualified for the 64, so they both had the opportunity to get a result. Unfortunately they faced each other and that was quite unlucky for us.  Having beaten James, Richard went on to defeat two other marvelous athletes.  It is his best result in the last two years and it’s the highest British individual result of the year as well.”

Alex Newton, Performance Director added; “I am delighted for Richard that he has won another World Cup medal.  He has been training hard and this paid off this weekend in Seoul.”