LAUSANNE, Switz., Dec. 6-10 – The International Fencing Federation continued its 2023-2024 senior competition World Cup season with three events in Vancouver, Novi Sad and Tokoname. Athletes and teams are preparing for next summer’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and current provisional qualification information for Paris 2024 is available here: https://paris.fie.org/
Here are the results from the three World Cups:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Women’s and Men’s Epee World Cup – Dec. 6-10
France’s Coraline Vitalis and Luidgi Midelton won the women’s and men’s individual gold medals at the Vancouver Women’s and Men’s Epee World Cup, with Estonia and Japan winning the women’s and men’s team events. The event took place at the Vancouver Convention Centre, with 205 women and 245 men as well as 21 women’s and 31 men’s teams participating in the competition.
Vitalis faced Argentina’s Isabel Di Tella in the final bout of women’s individual epee, winning with a 13-12 score. In the semifinal round, Di Tella won against Canada’s Ruien Xiao, 15-11, while Vitalis defeated teammate Camille Nabeth, 15-6.
Midelton faced China’s Zijie Wang in the final bout of men’s individual epee, winning with a 15-12 score. In the semifinal round, Wang won against Japan’s Koki Kano, 15-13, while Midelton defeated Italy’s Giulio Gaetani, 15-9. Of note, Wang beat France’s world champion Yannick Borel in the quarterfinals, 15-13.
In the women’s team epee event, Estonia faced USA in the final match, winning with a 36-32 score. In the semifinal round, USA defeated Ukraine, 45-43, while Estonia defeated Korea, 43-42. The bronze medal went to Ukraine over Korea, 37-36.
In the men’s team epee event, Japan faced Italy in the final match, winning with a 32-27 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Venezuela, 44-36, while Japan defeated Switzerland, 45-30. The bronze medal went to Venezuela over Switzerland, 27-26.
Novi Sad, Serbia Women’s Foil World Cup – Dec. 8-10
Italy’s two-time world champion Alice Volpi won the individual gold medal at the Novi Sad Women’s Foil World Cup, and USA won the team gold. The event took place at the SPC Vojvodina “Spens”, with 215 individual fencers and 22 teams participating in the competition.
Volpi faced USA’s Olympic champion Lee Kiefer in the final bout of women’s individual foil, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Kiefer won against Germany’s Leonie Ebert, 15-9, while Volpi defeated Canada’s Jessica Zi Jia Guo, 15-6.
In the women’s team foil event, USA faced Italy in the final match, winning with a 45-37 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Japan, 45-31, while USA beat Canada, 45-27. The bronze medal went to Japan over Canada, 44-31.
Tokoname, Japan Prince Takamado Trophy 2023 Men’s Foil World Cup – Dec. 8-10
USA’s Alexander Massialas won the individual gold medal at the Tokoname Prince Takamado Trophy 2023 World Cup, and France won the team gold. The event took place at the Aichi Sky Expo, with 219 individual fencers and 23 teams participating in the competition.
Massialas faced Egypt’s Mohamed Hamza in the final bout of men’s individual foil, winning with a 15-4 score. In the semifinal round, Hamza won against Italy’s Edoardo Luperi, 15-13, while Massialas defeated Hong Kong, China’s Chun Yin Ryan Choi, 15-8. Of note, Choi beat Italy’s world champion Tommaso Marini in the quarterfinals, 15-13, and Hamza won against Hong Kong China’s Olympic champion Ka Long Cheung, 15-8. In the table of 16, Cheung beat USA’s world champion Miles Chamley-Watson, 15-11.
In the men’s team foil event, France faced Italy in the final match, winning with a 45-35 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Hong Kong, China, 45-40, while France beat Japan, 45-42. The bronze medal went to Hong Kong, China over Japan, 45-35.
Complete and official results for this event may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.