Baldini wins 2nd Event in St. Petersburg

Andrea Baldini (ITA) won his 2nd straight world cup to tie Sheng Lei (CHN) atop the FIE World Rankings by winning the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.  Baldini defeated teammate Andrea Cassara (ITA) in the final match, 14-13.  “Baldini and Cassarà are back at their level,” said Stefano Cerioni, foil CT. “They are in great shape and most importantly they are expressing a high class of fencing.”

Miles Chamley-Watson (USA) took 9th place and Race Imboden (USA) took 16th.  The finish drops Chamley-Watson from the #2 FIE World Rank to #6.

In the quarterfinal Baldini defeated Peter Joppich (GER) 15-8 and in the semifinal he beat the young Egyptian fencer, El Sayed, 15-9.

From the Italian site: “This is the payoff of a thousand sacrifices,” said an euphoric Baldini after the awards ceremony. “It was a great day, I fenced well and had plenty of positive feelings. But there is always room for improvement so we must keep on working. Never let your guard down!”

In the top-64, Race Imboden continued a US fencing trend by knocking out Valerio Aspromonte (ITA).  Aspromonte was ranked 4th in the world earlier this month.  In the previous two world cups, Aspromonte was upset 15-14 by Alexander Massialas (Seoul Foil World Cup) and David Willette (Shanghai Grand Prix).

Imboden went on to the top 16 where he lost to Richard Kruse (GBR) 15-5.  Chamley-Watson went out in the 16 to Dmitri Rigine (RUS) 15-11.

The other US fencers to make the top-64 lost in the first round: Willette lost to Alexey Khovansk (RUS) and Meinhardt was defeated by Roland Schlosser (AUT).

St. Petersburg Men’s Foil Results (Top 8 + US Finishes)