LAUSANNE, Switz., Feb. 22-25, 2024 – Two International Fencing Federation World Cups took place in Heidenheim and Cairo, as fencers continue to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Current provisional qualification information for Paris 2024 is available here: https://paris.fie.org/.
Heidenheim, Germany, “70 Heidenheimer Pokal” Men’s Epee World Cup – Feb. 22-24
Japan’s Masaru Yamada won the individual gold medal at the Heidenheim “70 Heidenheimer Pokal” Men’s Epee World Cup, and Hungary won the team gold. The event took place at the Karl-Rau-Halle with 349 individual fencers and 33 teams participating in the competition.
Yamada faced Italy’s Enrico Piatti in the final bout of men’s individual epee, winning with a 15-9 score. In the semifinal round, Piatti won against teammate Federico Vismara, 15-11, while Yamada defeated France’s Paul Allegre, 15-9. Of note, in the quarterfinals Piatti beat France’s world and Olympic champion Romain Cannone, 15-14, and Vismara won against Venezuela’s Olympic champion Ruben Limardo-Gascon, 15-14.
In the men’s team epee event, Hungary faced Japan in the final match, winning with a 37-30 score. In the semifinal round, Japan won against Switzerland, 32-31, while Hungary defeated France, 37-36. The bronze medal went to France over Switzerland, 37-34.
Final rankings in men’s individual epee included Masaru Yamada (JPN, gold), Enrico Piatti (ITA, silver), Federico Vismara (ITA, bronze), Paul Allegre (FRA, bronze), Romain Cannone (FRA), Kazuyasu Minobe (JPN), Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN) and Luidgi Midelton (FRA).
Final rankings in men’s team epee included Hungary (gold), Japan (silver), France (bronze), Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Austria and Czech Republic.
Cairo, Egypt, National Bank of Egypt Women’s and Men’s Foil World Cup – Feb. 22-25
Italy’s Martina Favaretto and world champion Tommaso Marini won the women’s and men’s individual gold medals at the Cairo National Bank of Egypt Women’s and Men’s Foil World Cup, with USA and Italy winning the women’s and men’s team competitions. The event took place at the Indoor Halls Complex of Cairo Stadium in Nasr City, with 172 women and 225 men as well as 17 women’s and 21 men’s teams participating.
In the final bout of women’s individual foil, Favaretto faced USA’s Olympic champion Lee Kiefer, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Kiefer won against teammate Jacqueline Dubrovich, 15-13, while Favaretto defeated teammate Martina Sinigalia, 15-5. Of note, in the quarterfinals Sinigalia beat teammate and two-time world champion Alice Volpi, 15-14, and Kiefer won against Italy’s two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-12.
In the final bout of men’s individual foil, Marini faced teammate Edoardo Luperi, winning with a 15-6 score. In the semifinal round, Luperi won against China’s Ziwei Mo, 15-11, while Marini defeated Hungary’s Daniel Dosa, 15-5. Of note, in the quarterfinals, Dosa beat Italy’s world champion Alessio Foconi, 15-14, and in the round of 16, Mo defeated Hong Kong, China’s Olympic champion Ka Long Cheung, 15-13. In the round of 32, Cheung beat Italy’s world champion Daniele Garozzo, 15-10, and Kirill Borodachev (AIN) won against France’s two-time world champion Enzo Lefort, 15-11, before being defeated by Marini in the quarterfinals, 15-8.
In the women’s team foil event, USA faced Italy in the final match, winning with a 45-33 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Japan, 45-36, while USA defeated France, 45-27. The bronze medal went to Japan over France, 30-27.
In the men’s team foil event, Italy faced Japan in the final match, winning with a 45-30 score. In the semifinal round, Japan won against Hong Kong, China, 45-42, while Italy defeated USA, 45-31. The bronze medal went to USA over Hong Kong, China, 45-34.
Final rankings in women’s individual foil included Martina Favaretto (ITA, gold), Lee Kiefer (USA, silver), Jacqueline Dubrovich (USA, bronze), Martina Sinigalia (ITA, bronze), Alice Volpi (ITA), Martina Batini (ITA), Qingyuan Chen (CHN) and Arianna Errigo (ITA).
Final rankings in men’s individual foil included Tommaso Marini (ITA, gold), Edoardo Luperi (ITA, silver), Ziwei Mo (CHN, bronze), Daniel Dosa (HUN, bronze), Alessio Foconi (ITA), Kyosuke Matsuyama (JPN), Alexander Choupenitch (CZE) and Kirill Borodachev (AIN).
Final rankings in women’s team foil included USA (gold), Italy (silver), Japan (bronze), France, Canada, Ukraine, Poland and Korea.
Final rankings in men’s team foil included Italy (gold), Japan (silver), USA (bronze), Hong Kong-China, China, Hungary, Egypt and Poland.
Complete and official results for these events may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.