Second Evening of Junior Team Fencing Action in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Feature USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, and Mexico Earning Medals
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria, April 9, 2017—In the second day of finals in junior team competition at the 2017 Junior & Cadet World Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, athletes from 34 countries competed in the Junior Men’s Team Foil and 22 countries in Junior Women’s Team Epee. USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, and Mexico all take home medals from tonight’s events.
The Junior Men’s Team Sabre gold medal match ended in a thrilling, back-and-forth score after Japan’s Takahiro Shikine came back from a significant deficit to recover and take a multi-point lead all the way to one point from winning. Last year’s Cadet Men’s Foil World Champion in Bourges, France, USA’s Geoffrey Tourette, managed his own come-from-behind march to a stunning victory, 45-44.
This was the first gold medal for USA at this year’s Championships. In the semi-finals, USA overtook Russia 45-27, and Japan beat Italy in another close match, 45-43. Russia earned the bronze medal against Italy, 45-34.
In Junior Women’s Team Sabre, Russia kept its lead in gold medals at this week’s Championships by beating Italy, 45-30. The Russian women’s team had a strong day, anchored by Svetlana Sheveleva in the final, after beating Mexico 45-37 in the semi-final and France 45-42 in the quarter-final match. The Italians defeated the USA 45-43 in the semi-final. The bronze-medal match went to Mexico over USA, 45-38, anchored by Natalia Botello, the remarkable 14-year-old who won the Junior Women’s Individual Sabre event a few nights prior.
Top-eight final countries in Junior Men’s Team Foil included USA (gold), Japan (silver), Russia (bronze), Italy, Germany, Poland, France, and Hungary.
In Junior Women’s Team Sabre, the final eight countries included Russia (gold), Italy (silver), Mexico (bronze), USA, France, Hungary, China, and Poland.
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. Cadet fencers are younger than juniors, although for many of both groups this is the first opportunity to compete in a major world event. For some, they will also compete this July in the Senior World Fencing Championships in Leipzig, Germany. Full results from Plovdiv may be found here and full information about the Championships may be found on the official event website.