Russian Kirill Borodachev, Hungarian Liza Pusztai take the Gold Medals for the Second Night of Teen Fencing Action
In the second day of cadet fencing at the 2017 Junior & Cadet World Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, more than 200 younger teen fencers competed in men’s individual foil and women’s individual sabre events, with athletes from Russia and Hungary taking gold, respectively. Russia earned four medals in total for the evening, with three in men’s foil and one in women’s sabre.
The gold-medal round of Cadet Men’s Foil featured two Russian fencers, Vladislav Mylnikov and Kirill Borodachev. The teammates battled for gold after a long day of fencing, with Borodachev ultimately winning a 15-8 victory. The champion defeated two Italian fencers in the semi-final and quarter-final rounds, Alessio Di Tommaso (15-11) and Alessandro Stella (15-12). Mylnikov fenced another Russian teammate, Ivan Troshin, in the second semi-final round, winning 15-9.
Hungarian Liza Pusztai had a very strong finish to the day’s competition in Cadet Women’s Sabre by defeating USA’s Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the semi-final 15-3, and then overtaking Russian Alina Klyuchnikova in the gold-medal match, finishing 15-7. Klyuchnikova beat Mexico’s Natalia Botello in the second semi-final, 15-12.
Top-eight finalists in Cadet Men’s Foil included Kirill Borodachev (RUS, gold), Vladislav Mylnikov (RUS, silver), Alessio Di Tommaso (ITA, bronze), Ivan Troshin (RUS, bronze), Blake Broszus (CAN), Kerem Ercan (GER), Julian Cheng (USA), and Alessandro Stella (ITA).
In Women’s Cadet Sabre, the final eight included Liza Pusztai (HUN, gold), Alina Klyuchnikova (RUS, silver), Elizabeth Tartakovsky (USA, bronze), Natalia Botello (MEX, bronze), Anna Kudryaeva (RUS), Yin Fei Chan (HKG), Yoana Ilieva (BUL), and Hayoung Jeon (KOR).
The competition is being held on the Plovdiv International Fairgrounds, home to numerous sporting events in this ancient city. In all, 19 events will be fenced here over 10 days. The cadet competitors are younger than the juniors, and for many of them this is the first opportunity to compete in a major world event. Full results from Plovdiv may be found here and full information about the Championships may be found on the official event website.