(New York City, N.Y.) – Six members of Team USA advanced through a field of 183 competitors on Friday into the table of 64 at the New York Saber World Cup.
Competing in the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympic Games, 34 U.S. men fenced in pool and preliminary rounds on Friday at the New York Athletic Club with the hopes of qualifying for the top 64 on Saturday and earning valuable qualifying points.
Beijing Olympic silver medalist Tim Morehouse (New York City, N.Y.) went undefeated in his six pool bouts to qualify directly to the table of 64 as a 21st seed. In the table of 64, Morehouse will meet 2008 Junior World medalist Vincent Couturier (CAN) in the first round.
Jeff Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.) also made the cut from the pools and will fence Wei He (CHN) in the table of 64 as a 31st seed. If Spear advances, he will face a challenging second round between either Luca Pignotti (ITA) or top-ranked Alexey Yakimenko (RUS).
Four other members of Team USA advanced first through the pools and then through two rounds of preliminary tables to qualify for competition on Saturday.
Mihail Etropolski (Floral Park, N.Y.) won five bouts in the pools to earn a bye in the preliminary table of 128. In the next round, Etropolski defeated U.S. teammate Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.) to earn the bid into the rounds on Saturday where Etropolski’s first bout is against Gelu Florin Zalomir (ROU).
Two-time Senior World Team member Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.) also had a 5-1 pool record and a bye into the preliminary table of 64 where he won his bout against Emmanuel Gans (FRA). In the table of 64, Igoe will face Alexandre Woog (ISR). Also in Igoe’s section of the draw is 2010 World Champion Woo-Young Won (KOR) who Igoe could meet up with in the second round.
The 18th ranked fencer in the world, Daryl Homer (New York City, N.Y.) had a difficult start in the pools where he went 3-3, but made it through two rounds of tables with wins over Dobrin Gionov (BUL) and Benedikt Beisheim (GER) to qualify for the table of 64. Homer will have a challenging opening bout when he faces 2004 Olympic Champion Aldo Montano (ITA).
Avery Zuck (Portland, Ore.), a 2009 Junior World Team member, had a slow start in the pools where he won two of six bouts, but fenced well in the direct elimination tables where he won bouts against 2005 World medalist Oleg Shturbabin (UKR) and Mengjun Hou (CHN). Zuck’s entry into the table as the 64th seed will pit him against 2008 Olympic silver medalist Nicolas Limbach (GER) in the first round.
The men’s table of 64 will begin at 2 p.m. with semifinals starting at approximately 7:45 p.m.
U.S. athletes who placed outside the top 64 on Friday are as follows:
74. James Williams (New York City, N.Y.)
76. Sean Buckley (Secaucus, N.J.)
86. Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.)
88. Andrew Fischl (Huntington, N.Y.)
84. Daniel Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
101. Eric Arzoian (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
111. Steven Yang (Princeton Junction, N.J.)
113. Will Spear (Wyantskill, N.Y.)
117. Peter Souders (Silver Spring, Md.)
119. Evan Prochniak (Hudson, N.H.)
121. Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
124. Jason Choy (Basking Ridge, N.J.)
127. Reinzi Gokea (New York City, N.Y.)
128. Denis Dukhavlov (Salisbury Mills, N.J.)
130. Adam Mandel (White Plains, N.Y.)
133. John Hallsten (Sacramento, Calif.)
139. Daniel Kim (Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
143. Isaac Buchwald (El Granada, Calif.)
144. Charles Copti (Wyckoff, N.J.)
145. Zackery Brown (Watchung, N.J.)
149. Luther Clement (New York City, N.Y.)
151. Teddy Weller (Barrington, R.I.)
153. Alexander Ryjik (Alexandria, Va.)
157. Allen Schneider (Fayetteville, Ga.)
160. Peter Pak (Roslyn, N.Y.)
166. Adam Austin (Dix Hills, N.Y.)
168. Brad Baker (Pennsauken, N.J.)
178. Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.)
