SHANGHAI, China, May 19, 2019—Italy’s world champion Alessio Foconi and Russia’s two-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist Inna Deriglazova scored gold medals at the 2019 Shanghai Foil Grand Prix. This was the eighth FIE Grand Prix in a series of nine, with 389 international fencers participating. The Grand Prix was held at Shanghai’s JingAn Sports Center.
Winning by a single touch to take the gold medal, Italy’s Foconi overcame USA’s Nick Itkin, 15-14, in the final round of the men’s individual foil event. Itkin beat Russia’s Timur Safin in the semi-finals, 15-7, while Foconi eliminated Hong Kong’s Chun Yin Ryan Choi, 15-11. Notably, Russian world champion Alexey Cheremisinov was beaten in the quarter-finals by Choi, 15-14; USA’s world champion Miles Chamley-Watson lost to teammate Itkin in the table of 16, 15-9; Safin beat German four-time world champion Peter Joppich in the table of 16, 15-9; German Olympic gold medallist Benjamin Kleibrink was beaten by USA’s Gerek Meinhardt in the round of 32, 15-10; and Italian Olympic gold medallist Daniele Garozzo lost to Korea’s Taegyu Ha in the round of 32, 15-10.
Deriglazova faced Italian world champion Alice Volpi in the final match, winning 15-10 for the gold medal. Volpi beat USA’s Lee Kiefer in the semi-final round, 15-9, while Deriglazova eliminated Italian two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-10. Notably, Italian world and Olympic champion Elisa Di Francisca lost in round of 32 to Japan’s Sera Azuma, 12-10.
Overall men’s top-eight ranking for the Shanghai Foil Grand Prix included Alessio Foconi (ITA, gold), Nick Itkin (USA, silver), Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG, bronze), Timur Safin (RUS, bronze), Gerek Meinhardt (USA), Alexey Cheremisinov (RUS), Erwann Le Pechoux (FRA) and Tommaso Marini (ITA).
Top-eight for the women included Inna Deriglazova (RUS, gold), Alice Volpi (ITA, silver), Arianna Errigo (ITA, bronze), Lee Kiefer (USA, bronze), Leonie Ebert (GER), Yuka Ueno (JPN), Francesca Palumbo (ITA) and Sera Azuma (JPN).
Full results for the 2019 Shanghai Foil Grand Prix may be found on the FIE Web site here.