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Axel Kiefer Wins Gold, John Philippe Avendano Takes Bronze at Halle Cadet Foil European Cup
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(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Fencing for just the second time at a Cadet European Cup, 15-year-old foil fencer Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) won gold in Halle, Germany on Sunday.
Kiefer was joined on the podium by 16-year-old John Philippe Avendano (Colts Neck, N.J.) who also earned his first international medal with a third place finish.
After finishing 12-0 in both rounds of pools on Saturday, Kiefer entered the table of 128 as the third seed. Two of Kiefer’s teammates – Drew Johnston (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) and Stephen Mageras (Darien, Conn.) – also went undefeated and were seeded second and fourth in the table, respectively.
Following the pools and first two direct elimination rounds on Saturday, 12 of the 15 U.S. team members advanced to the table of 32 on Sunday, including Kiefer, Avendano and Johnston.
On Sunday, Kiefer won his first two bouts against Bogdan Dascalu (ROU), 15-2, and Alessandro Gridelli (ITA), 15-7, and defeated teammate George Haglund (Califon, N.J.), 15-13, in the third bout.
Kiefer’s undefeated run earned him a trip to the quarter-finals where he met another teammate – Harry McGuire (Cos Cob, Conn.) – whom Kiefer defeated, 15-11.
Avendano also won three straight bouts on Sunday to qualify for the quarter-finals where he defeated Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas), 14-10.
Five members of Team USA placed in the top eight in Halle. (L-R): Harry McGuire (7th), Raymond Chen (6th), Axel Kiefer (gold), John Philippe Avendano (bronze) and George Haglund (8th).
Chen, McGuire and Haglund finished the day in sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Avendano lost his next bout to Bartosz Cegielski (POL), 15-5, and ended the day with a bronze medal win.
In his semifinal, Kiefer won the bout against Daniel Dosa (HUN), 15-11.
Kiefer ended the event with a decisive 15-8 win over Bartosz Cegielski (POL), 15-8.
Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:
1. Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
2. Bartosz Cegielski (POL)
3. Daniel Dosa (HUN)
3. John Philippe Avendano (Colts Neck, N.J.)
5. Andras Nemeth Toerekves (HUN)
6. Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas)
7. Harry McGuire (Cos Cob, Conn.)
8. George Haglund (Califon, N.J.)
9. Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.)
12. Joseph Lam (San Francisco, Calif.)
13. Jeffrey Chen (Cupertino, Calif.)
16. Thomas Dudey (Bellaire, Texas)
18. Alexander Szilagyi (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.)
22. Spicer Emge (Los Angeles, Calif.)
25. Drew Johnston (Whitehouse Station, N.J.)
33. Stephen Mageras (Darien, Conn.)
36. James Sands (New York, N.Y.)
47. Marc Berghouse (Redwood City, Calif.)
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