HONG KONG, CHINA, May 1-4, 2024 – USA’s Maia Mei Weintraub and Italy’s Guillaume Bianchi won the gold medals in women’s and men’s individual foil at the Hong Kong Foil World Cup, and Italy and Hong Kong, China won the team events. The competition took place at the AsiaWorld Expo (Hall 10), with 163 women and 197 men competing as well as 19 women’s and 21 men’s teams.
Weintraub faced Italy’s Elena Tangherlini in the final bout of women’s individual foil, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Tangherlini won against USA’s Jacqueline Dubrovich, 15-7, while Weintraub defeated Italy’s two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-13. Of note, Weintraub beat teammate and Olympic champion Lee Kiefer in the table of 16, 15-14, while Italy’s Francesca Palumbo won against teammate and two-time world champion Alice Volpi, 15-11, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Dubrovich, 15-9.
Bianchi faced Japan’s Takahiro Shikine in the final bout of men’s individual foil, winning with a 15-10 score. In the semifinal round, Shikine won against Spain’s Carlos Llavador, 15-14, while Bianchi defeated teammate and world champion Tommaso Marini, 15-3. Of note, Italy’s Davide Filippi beat Hong Kong, China’s Olympic champion Ka Long Cheung in the table of 16, 15-14, and Bianchi won against France’s two-time world champion Enzo Lefort, 15-1. In the round of 32, Japan’s Kyosuke Matsuyama defeated USA’s world champion Miles Chamley-Watson, 15-9, before being eliminated by USA’s Bryce Louie in the round of 16, 15-11.
Italy faced France in the final match of women’s team foil, winning with a 45-30 score. In the semifinal round, France won against Korea, 45-19, while Italy defeated Ukraine, 45-32. The bronze medal went to Ukraine over Korea, 34-31.
Hong Kong, China faced Italy in the final match of men’s team foil, winning with a 45-41 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against China, 45-37, while Hong Kong, China defeated Korea, 45-31. The bronze medal went to Korea over China, 45-37.
Final rankings in women’s individual foil included Maia Mei Weintraub (USA, gold), Elena Tangherlini (ITA, silver), Jacqueline Dubrovich (USA, bronze), Arianna Errigo (ITA, bronze), Jessica Zi Jia Guo (CAN), Francesca Palumbo (ITA), Komaki Kikuchi (JPN) and Delphine Devore (USA).
Final rankings in men’s individual foil included Guillaume Bianchi (ITA, gold), Takahiro Shikine (JPN, silver), Carlos Llavador (ESP, bronze), Tommaso Marini (ITA, bronze), Filippo Macchi (ITA), Davide Filippi (ITA), Kwanghyun Lee (KOR) and Bryce Louie (USA).
Final rankings in women’s team foil included Italy (gold), France (silver), Ukraine (bronze), Korea, Poland, USA, China and Austria.
Final rankings in men’s team foil included Hong Kong-China (gold), Italy (silver), Korea (bronze), China, USA, France, Egypt and Singapore.
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.