Silver for Kruse in Turin

Senior Men’s Foil – Turin Grand Prix

Six British fencers took part in this event in a field of one hundred and eighty-four.  By virtue of their world ranking, James Davis and Richard Kruse automatically qualified for the round of 64.  Marcus Mepstead (V5D1) and Alex Tofalides (V4D2) not only made the first round cut but also did enough to earn themselves byes through the first fight of a two-stage preliminary knockout.  Laurence Halsted (V4D2) and Ben Peggs (V3D3) also made the cut but had to fight in the first preliminary.  Halsted progressed with a 15-11 victory over Matyas (HUN) but Peggs fell 15-10 to Kundera (CZE).  In the second preliminary Mepstead beat Podshyvalov (UKR) 13-8 to join Davis and Kruse in the round of 64 but Halsted lost 15-13 to Poscharnig (AUT) and Lari (ITA) beat Tofalides 15-3.

All three remaining fencers found themselves in the bottom quarter of the draw increasing their chances of meeting each other and that’s just the way it played out.  Davis, Kruse and Mepstead beat Kwak (KOR) 15-7, Ingargiola (ITA) 13-12 and Pogrebniak (UKR) 15-5 respectively in the round of 64.  In the following round, Davis cruised past Safin (RUS) 15-8, Kruse beat Chen (KOR) 15-10 and Mepstead impressed by beating world number two and the reigning World Champion, Ota (JPN) 15-5.  In the round of 16 Davis outclassed Joppich (GER) 15-3 as Kruse beat Mepstead 9-8.  This ensured there would be a British fencer on the podium as it meant that Davis would fence Kruse in the quarterfinal.  Kruse continued a winning streak over Davis, beating him 15-13.  He went on to beat Kwanghyun Lee (KOR) 15-10 before facing Jianfie Ma (CHN) for gold.  The match was tight until the final period when Ma pulled away to win the title 15-11.   Lorenzo Nista (ITA) was the other bronze medallist.

GB individual placing:  Kruse 2^nd, Davis 5^th, Mepstead 14^th, Tofalides 72^nd, Halsted 75^th & Peggs 117^th.

Full individual results here.

Senior Women’s Foil – Turin Grand Prix

A field of one hundred and fifty-six fencers at this event included five from Great Britain.  Amy Church (V0D6), Ruth Clarke (V2D4), Catherine Cook (V1D5), Philippa Mullins (V1D5) and Natalia Sheppard (V2D4) all missed the first round cut.

Alice Volpi (ITA) secured her maiden senior win with a dominant 15-4 victory over Inna Deriglazova (RUS) as Arianna Errigo (ITA) and Adelina Zagidullina (RUS) picked up the bronze medals.

GB placings:  Sheppard 121^st, Clarke 124^th, Mullins 132^nd, Cook 143^rd & Church 155^th=.

Full individual results here.

Senior Men’s Epee – Dublin Satellite

Nine British fencers were part of the sixty-six strong field at this event in Ireland at the weekend.  Benjamin Andrews, Tomas Curran Jones, Paddy Erskine, Maxton Milner, Myles Pillage, Duncan Salter & Paul Sanchez-Lethem made it through the two rounds of poules but Roo Whelan and Thomas Wilson did not.  In the incomplete round of 64 Andrews beat Pillage 15-8, Curran-Jones beat Mestres (ESP) 15-10 and Sanchez-Lethem had a bye but Chambers (IRL) defeated Erskine 15-5, Hinz (GER) knocked out Milner 15-10 and Majgier (POL) saw off Salter 15-4.  None of the remaining British fencers progressed any further as Karkalik (SVK) beat Andrews 15-6, Antkiewicz (POL) eliminated Curran Jones 15-13 and Agayev (TKM) defeated Whelan 14-13.

Bas Verwiljen (NED) took the title beating Mateusz (Antkiewicz 15-4 in the final.  Uros Balent (SLO) and Wei Wen Lim (SIN) secured the bronze medals.

GB placings:  Sanchez-Lethem 19^th, Andrews 23^rd, Curran Jones 28^th, Milner 41^st, Salter 43^rd, Pillage 47^th, Erskine 53^rd, Whelan 54^th & Wilson 60^th=.

Full individual results here.

Under-23 Men’s Sabre – Munich

Derek Domingue was Great Britain’s sole representative in the field of ninety-four at this event but he did not progress through the first round.  Aron Szilagyi (HUN) won the title beating Benedikt Wagner (GER) 15-13 in the final.  The bronze medals went to Tamas Decsi (HUN) and Matyas Szabo (GER).

GB placing:  Domingue 94^th.

Full individual results here.

Junior Men’s Epee – Bratislava

Nine British fencers formed part of the field of two hundred and seventy-eight at this nominated event in Slovakia.  Thomas Hoffmann (V3D3), Daniel McGlade (V3D3), Harrison Nichols (V4D2), Harry Peck (V4D2), Benjamin Schneider (V4D2), Aml Sinclair (V4D2) and Craig Worman (V5D1) all made the first round cut but Thomas Dickson (V1D5) and Owen Jordan (V2D4) did not.  Hoffmann was knocked out in the round of 256 and McGlade, Schneider and Worman followed him out in the round of 128.  Of the remaining British fencers only Nichols survived the round of 64.  He went on to beat Vervoitte (FRA) 15-7 in the next round before losing 12-11 to Esztergalyos (HUN) to finish fifteenth.

Zsombor Banyai (HUN) went on to win the event beating Rico Braun (GER) 15-11 in the final.  The bronze medals went to Partick Esztergalyos (HUN) and Balint Bakos (HUN).

In the team event, Jordan, Nichols, Sinclair and Worman lined up for Great Britain in a field of twenty-six.  They beat Romania 45-35 in the round of 32 but then lost 45-26 to Hungary.  In the placings matches they beat Germany 45-42 and Austria 45-37 before losing 45-24 to Switzerland to finish tenth.  Ukraine secured the title beating Hungary 45-43 in a tight final as Italy beat Poland 37-30 for the bronze medal.

GB placings:  Nichols 15^th, Peck 55^th, Sinclair 57^th, Worman 71^st, Schneider 83^rd, McGlade 113^th=, Hoffmann 155^th=, Jordan 204^th & Dickson 254^th=.

Full individual results here.

Full team results here.

Junior Men’s Foil – Bratislava

Great Britain had twelve entries in a field of two hundred and four at this nominated event.  Jai Birch (V4D2), Harry Bird (V5D1), Stephen Brown (V2D4) Dominic De Almeida (V3D3), Keiran Delange (V3D3), Daniel Kiss (V2D3), Alex Lloyd (V3D3), Kamal Minott (V4D2), Sebastian Pallier (V2D4) and Rajan Rai (V2D4) all made it through the first round but Ciaran Archer (V1D5) and Kameron Nicholas (V0D6) did not.  Birch, Bird, De Almeida, Lloyd and Minott all had byes through the round of 256 and were joined in the next round by Delange who beat Cmiel (CZE) 15-6, Kiss who beat Brown 15-14, and Pallier who beat Garcia Prado (ESP) 15-13.  Rajan Rai went out 15-10 to Lasak (CZE).  Only Bird and De Almeida made it through to the round of 64 beating Tkachuk (UKR) 15-7 and Chiappelli (ITA) 15-8.  Chastanet (FRA) beat Birch 15-12, Roger (FRA) defeated Delange 15-6, Rzadkowski (POL) knocked out Kiss 15-6, Berg (DEN) beat Lloyd 15-7, Minott was eliminated by Tarasiewicz (POL) 15-7 and Tourette (USA) beat Pallier 15-3.  The two remaining British fencers were not able to progress any further as Dal Santos (ITA) beat Bird 15-11 and Filipe (ITA) knocked out De Almeida 15-11.

Alexandre Sido (FRA) beat Maxim Lovyagin (RUS) 15-10 to win the event as Geoffrey Tourette (USA) and Andrzej Rzadkowski (POL) picked up the bronze medals.

In the team event, Birch, Kiss, Lloyd and Raid formed the British team in a field of twenty.  A bye through the round of 32 was followed by a convincing 45-35 victory over Egypt.  An impressive 45-43 victory over Russia in the quarterfinals meant that the team had two shots at a medal.  Unfortunately they were beaten 45-36 by France in their semi-final match and then 45-41 by Japan in the bronze medal fight-off.  France went on to win the event with a 45-34 victory over the USA.

GB placings:  Bird 37^th=, De Almeida 61^st=, Birch 75^th, Minott 90^th, Lloyd 100^th, Delange 112^th=, Kiss 121^st, Pallier 123^rd, Brown 136^th=, Rai 138^th, Archer 165^th= & Nicholas 186^th.

Full individual results here.

Full team results here.

Junior Women’s Foil – Bratislava

There were twelve British entries in the field of one hundred and forty-nine in the women’s foil event.  Kate Beardmore (V2D4), Alice Campbell (V3D3), Yasmin Campbell (V2D4), Yvonne Chart (V4D2), Katrina Feklistova (V3D3), Ayesha Fihosy (V3D3), Amber Moss (V2D3) and Jade Rowland (V4D2) made it through the first round but Isabella Dmochowska (V1D5), Rachel Shaw (V1D5), Katie Smith (V0D5) and Lucy Taylor (V1D4) missed the cut.  Only Fihosy and Rowland progressed through the round of 128 beating, Derevyanko (UKR) 15-13 and De Zolt (ITA) 9-8, respectively, as Hohenadel (GER) saw off Beardmore 15-7, Pasztor (HUN) defeated Alice Campbell 15-3, Tsuji (JPN) beat Yasmin Campbell 15-10, Toth (HUN) edged out Chart 15-14, Pisano (ITA) beat Feklistova 15-11 and Mizoguchi (JPN) knocked out Moss 15-11.  Fihosy went on to beat Sulik (POL) 15-9 before losing 15-14 to Tsibirova (RUS).  Rowland also made the round of 32 by beating Hohenadel (GER) 15-11 but then lost 13-2 to Kulaeva (RUS).

Maria Boldor (ROU) beat Flora Pasztor (HUN) 15-12 to win the title with Marta Martyanova (RUS) and Julia Chrzanowska (POL) in the bronze medal position.

GB placings:  Rowland 29^th, Fihosy 30^th, Chart 70^th, Feklistova 97^th, A. Campbell 95^th, Moss 97^th, Y. Campbell 102^nd, Beardmore 108^th, Taylor 120^th, Dmochowska 126^th, Shaw 134^th & Smith 147^th.

Full individual results here.