{mosimage}VANCOUVER – Vancouver hosted over 200 fencers from 22 countries have gathered to compete in the last world cup of the season before the October World Championships. This weekend’s action saw Americans win 2 gold medals as well as silver and bronze.
Seth Kelsey and Ben Solomon took gold and bronze respectively in the men’s epee event. # 5 seed Seth Kelsey bested fencers from Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands en route to his gold medal. Kelsey defeated Canadian Laurie Shong 15-7in the semi-finals and outlasted the Netherland’s Verwijlen 15-12 to take the gold. Solomon defeated #3 seed Silvio Fernandez to break out of his #19 seed and pave the way to his bronze medal finish.
In women’s sabre, Olympic Gold Medalist Mariel Zagunis defeated her teammate and fellow medalist Sada Jacobson in a tight 15-14 match. Both US fencers defeated rivals from Russia in what could be important previews for the World Championships. In the prior Las Vegas world cup, the Russian team beat the US team 45-44, so any bouts between the Americans and Russians take on more significance for the respective teams.
The women’s epee event featured a strong showing by Canadian fencers Sherraine MacKay of Brooks, Alta., and Catherine Dunnette of Calgary as they shared the bronze medal podium in the women’s epee. #1 seed MacKay started the day off well, but fell to Switzerland’s Sophie Lamon from 15-13. Dunnette upset #3 seed Sonja Tol of the Netherlands, but lost to #2 seed Cristiana Cascioli of Italy 15-12 in her semifinal match.
Cristiana Cascioli beat Sophie Lamon 15-12 to capture gold in the final.
In men’s foil action former World Champion Peter Joppich of Germany took bronze after losing to Russia’s Youri Moltchan. The most lopsided match of the day occurred in the quarterfinals as Israel’s Tomer Or crushed Egypt’s Mostafa Nagaty 15-1. Or carried the momentum into his semifinal bout, defeating Russia’s Alexandre Stoukaline 15-7.
Or won the gold by defeating Moltchan 15-11.
The next major events will be the World Championships in October.
Official results:
http://www.pbinternational.ca/results.html
