For Immediate Release
Oct. 7, 2004
Great Results from Havana
Soren Thompson (22, San Diego, Calif.) has become the first U.S. men’s epee fencer to reach the final eight at a World Championships in recent history!
Thompson pulled off a series of upsets, defeating higher seed Sergio Penzo Junge of Chile 15-14 in the round of 64. Further results are still to come, but in short, Thompson barely missed the medal rounds, losing his bout 15-14.
In women’s foil competition, Erinn Smart (23, New York, N.Y.) reached the top 16 and missed the finals by a whisker. Smart also created an upset, downing Indra Angad-Gaur of the Netherlands, the world’s 13th-ranked women’s foilist, by the score of 10-9 to reach the top 16. She was then defeated by Russia’s Ekaterina Youcheva 15-6 in her attempt to reach the final eight.
Going into the Championships, Smart was ranked #43 in the world, and Soren Thompson #97. This result will be a significant step in both athletes' attempts to reach the 2004 Olympics.
World Fencing Championship competition began Sunday in Havana, Cuba, and will continue through Oct. 11. The individual men’s epee and women’s foil finals concluded yesterday evening. Individual men’s saber and women’s epee medal rounds will be contested today.
Other U.S. results: in the men’s epee event, complete results are not yet available. The U.S.’s Cody Mattern defeated Egypt’s Ibrahim Abd El Rahim 15-12 in the preliminary table of 128 and was defeated in his next bout to finish in the top 64. Seth Kelsey also defeated his opponent in the round of 128, Wolfgang Mejias of Venezuela, 15-14, and finished in the top 64. Eric Hansen lost to his opponent in the same round, Nuno Franao of Portugal, 15-13, and finished in the top 128.
In women’s foil, Iris Zimmermann defeated Ukranian Olena Khismatulina 15-8 in the round of 64 and lost a tight bout to Simone Bauer of Germany 15-14 in the round of 32. Emily Cross was defeated in the round of 64 by Margherita Granbassi of Italy, 15-11. Hanna Thompson was barely defeated by Poland’s Magda Mroczkiewicz 15-14 in the round of 64.
In preliminary results from the men’s saber and women’s epee competitions, all four men’s saber fencers reached the top 64 yesterday, and will compete today.
Keeth Smart, seeded #5, and Ivan Lee, seeded #21, have byes into the table of 64. Tim Hagamen and Jason Rogers both soundly defeated their opponents yesterday and will fence as seeds #59 and #54, respectively.
Stephanie Eim defeated Sophie Haarlem of Sweden 10-9 and then was defeated in the round of 64 by #9 seed Tatiana Logounova of Russia, 11-7. Elisabeth Spilman lost her direct elimination bout to Yudmila Pereira Mustelier of Cuba 15-10 yesterday. Kelley Hurley and Kamara James did not reach the direct elimination phase.
Stay tuned for final results from the men’s saber and women’s epee competitions.
2003 World Fencing Championships
Havana, Cuba, Oct. 4-11, 2003
Men’s Epee
158 competitors
1 JEANNET Fabrice FRA
2 KHVOROST Maksym UKR
3 ROBEIRI Ulrich FRA
3 ZAKHAROV Vitali BLR
5 SEPULVEDA Eduardo ESP
6 SCHMID Sven GER
7 BORIS BARRIENTO Camilo CUB
8 THOMPSON Soren (22, San Diego, Calif./New York Athletic
Club/Princeton ’04)
56 KELSEY Weston (22, Brush Prairie, Wash./U.S.A.F. Acad.)
61 MATTERN Cody (22, Tigard, Ore./NorthWest F.C.)
82 HANSEN Eric (28, San Bruno, Calif./Golden Gate)
Women’s Foil
68 competitors
1 VEZZALI Valentina ITA
2 GRUCHALA Sylwia POL
3 MOHAMED Aida HUN
3 SCARLAT Roxana ROM
5 TRILLINI Giovanna ITA
6 YOUCHEVA Ekaterina RUS
7 BAUER Simone GER
8 VARGA Gabriella HUN
11 SMART Erinn (23, New York, N.Y./Westbrook Foundation)
24 ZIMMERMANN Iris (22, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club/Stanford ’05)
47 THOMPSON Hannah (19, Rochester, N.Y./Rochester F.C./Ohio State ’05)
50 CROSS Emily (16, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club)
For More Information Please Contact:
Cindy Bent Findlay
US Fencing Media Relations
614.746.6733
usfencingmedia@earthlink.net
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