(Chicago, Ill.) – U.S. athletes made the best of a home field advantage on Friday when 16 women and 11 men advanced out of the preliminary rounds at the Korfanty Cup in Navy Pier’s Hall A.
The final men's and women's saber World Cup before the London Olympic Games, the Korfanty Cup includes top competitors from the United States as well as around the world.
Live results for the tournament can be found at www.usfencingresults.com.
The U.S. women began the tournament with three athletes exempt from competition on Friday due to top-16 seeds at the start of the tournament.
Two-time Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) is #1 in the world and has won six straight medals in individual international competition. Zagunis will fence junior Allison Lee (Saddle River, N.J.) in the table of 64. Lee finished the pools on Friday, 2-4, and won her preliminary table of 64 bout against Sin Ying Au (HKG), 15-14. If Zagunis defeats Lee, she will face the winner of a bout between Adrienne Jarocki (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Olga Zhovnir (UKR). Sixteen-year-old Jarocki advanced to the table of 64 after a 4-1 result in the pools.
Zagunis’s London teammate Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) moved up to the fourth seed after winning a silver medal at the Pan American Championships on Saturday where she lost a 15-13 final bout to Zagunis. Wozniak will fence U.S. teammate Aziza Hassan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the table of 64. Hassan went 2-3 in the pools and defeated Erica Zhao (Plano, Texas), 15-13, in the preliminary round.
If Wozniak defeats Hassan, her next bout in the table of 32 would be against the winner of the bout between Seira Nakayama (JPN) and Faizah Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.) who advanced out of the pools with a 5-1 result.
Looking ahead to the table of 16, U.S. athletes Wozniak could face include 16-year-old Claudia Kulmacz (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) and 2012 Cadet World medalist Skyla Powers (Decatur, Ga.) Kulmacz defeated 2012 Junior World Team member Margaret McDonald (Atlanta, Ga.), 15-11, after a 4-2 result in the pools. Kulmacz will fence Russian Viktoriya Kovaleva in the table of 64. Powers went 3-2 in the pools and won her bout against Stephanie Wang (Cupertino, Calif.), 15-8. Powers will fence Sabina Mikina (AZE), an eight-place finisher at the 2011 Senior Worlds, in the table of 64.
Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, Calif.) is seeded 13th in the table of 64. A 2012 Olympic hopeful, Muhammad fell just shy of qualifying for London where she was aiming to become the first U.S. athlete ever to compete in a hijab at the Games. Muhammad stuck with the sport, however, and won bronze in April at the World Team Championships with Zagunis, Wozniak and Daria Schneider (New York City, N.Y.) Muhammad will fence two-time Olympian Alejandra Benitez (VEN) in the table of 64.
Azza Besbes (TUN), who finished eighth in Beijing as a 17-year-old, could meet Muhammad in the table of 16. Besbes will fence 2012 Cadet World Team member Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.) in the table of 64. Palmedo won two of five pool bouts and defeated Elora Pattaro (BRA), 15-8, in the preliminary table to advance to the rounds on Saturday.
Fresh off her gold medal win in the team event at the Pan American Championships on Tuesday with Zagunis, Wozniak and Muhammad, Schneider lost her first bout in the pools, but won five straight to advance directly to the table of 64 where she will fence Katarzyna Kedziora (POL) on Saturday. As Schneider attempts to qualify for her first top-eight finish of the 2012 World Cup season, a table of 64 win would put her into the table of 32 against the winner of a bout between 2008 Junior World medalist Xiaodong Chen (CHN) and Rossella Gregorio (ITA). Possible match-ups in the table of 16 include 2007 Senior World medalist Bogna Jozwiak (POL) or 2012 Cadet World medalist Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.) who defeated Gracie Stone (Chicago, Ill.), 15-9, after finishing the pools 4-2.
Other U.S. fencers to watch in the table of 64 are Kamali Thompson (Teaneck, N.J.), Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.), Nicole Glon (State College, Pa.) and Emma Keehan (Erie, Pa.)
A recent graduate from Temple University, Thompson also advanced to the table of 64 at the 2011 New York World Cup. This year, Thompson finished the pools with a 2-3 record and won her next bout against 2011 Junior World Team member Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.), 15-11. Thompson will fence Min Zhu (CHN), a sixth-place finisher at the 2011 Senior Worlds, in the table of 64.
Sixteen-year-old Johnson ended the pools with a 2-3 result and defeated Jenny Siu In (HKG), 15-12. In the table of 64, Johnson will meet Irene Vecchi (ITA), a two-time top-eight finisher at the Senior Worlds.
Glon, a 2009 Cadet World medalist, split her pool bouts, 3-3, and defeated Yi Tak Fong (HKG) in the preliminary table. She will fence 2005 Senior World medalist Ilaria Bianco (ITA) on Saturday.
After a 4-2 result in the pools, 18-year-old Keehan won her next bout against Julieta Toledo (MEX), 15-12. On Saturday, Keen will fence Malgorzata Kozaczuk (POL).
On the men’s side, all four London Olympic nominees advanced to the table of 64.
As the 15th seed in the tournament, Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.) was the only American man to earn an exemption into the table of 64 where he will fence Baptiste Gans (FRA).
James Williams (New York City, N.Y.) and Jeff Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.) each advanced to the table of 64 after undefeated runs in the pools. Williams will compete against Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) who finished the pools with a 3-2 record and defeated Chi Hin Cyrus Chang (HKG), 15-14, in the preliminary table. The winner of the bout between Williams and Loss could fence Homer in the table of 32.
Spear will fence Nicolas Rousset (FRA) in the table of 64.
London nominee Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.) had a difficult day in the pools where he finished 3-2. In the preliminary table, Morehouse defeated Donovan Deans (Tempe, Ariz.), 15-7. On Saturday, Morehouse will compete against 2010 Senior World Champion Woo Young Won (KOR).
Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.), a 2011 Senior World Team member, went 4-1 in the pools and won his preliminary table bout against Christopher Monti (Cary, Ill.), 15-2. Igoe will fence Julien Medard (FRA) on Saturday. A win over Medard in the table of 64 will put Igoe against either Junghwan Kim (KOR) or Michael Josephs (Chevy Chase, Md.) Nineteen-year-old Josephs went split his pool bouts and defeated Isaac Buchwald (San Carlos, Calif.) in the preliminary tables.
Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.), the 2012 Junior World silver medalist, won four of six bouts in the pools and defeated Willian Zeytounlian (BRA), 15-14, in the preliminary tables. Dershwitz drew Wei He (CHN) in the table of 64. The winner will face either Will Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.) or Joseph Polossifakis (CAN) who is less than a week removed from his gold medal win at the Pan Ams in Mexico. A 2011 Junior World Team member, Spear defeated Tywilliam Guzenski (POL), 15-14, in the preliminary table after a 3-3 pool result.
Michael Costin (Culver City, Calif.), a member of the 2012 Junior World Team, won two of five bouts in the pools and defeated Fabrizio Marino (ITA), 15-10, in the preliminary table. Costin will fence Dmitri Lapkes (BLR), a fourth-place finisher at the Athens Games, in the table of 64.
Eighteen-year-old Duncan O’Brien (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) finished the pools with a 2-4 record and defeated 2012 Cadet World medalist Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.), 15-11, in the preliminary tables. O’Brien will fence four-time Senior World medalist Nicolas Limbach (GER) in the table of 64.
The competition schedule on Saturday is as follows:
9 a.m.
Women’s Table of 64
11:30 a.m.
Women’s Table of 32
12:45 p.m.
Women’s Table of 16
1:30 p.m.
Women’s Quarter-finals
2 p.m.
Men’s Table of 64
4:15 p.m.
Men’s Table of 32
5:30 p.m.
Men’s Table of 16
6:30 p.m.
Women’s Semifinals
7 p.m.
Men’s Semifinals
7:30 p.m.
Women’s Finals
7:45 p.m.
Men’s Finals
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