U.S. Fencers Earn Team Silver and Bronze at 2010 Junior World Championships in Men’s Sabre and Women’s Epee
The U.S. Fencers kicked off the team competition of the 2010 Cadet and Junior World Championships on Thursday with two medals – silver in women’s epee and bronze in men’s sabre. To date, Team USA has collected seven medals (2 gold; 2 silver; 3 bronze) at the major international event being held at the Haydar Aliyev Sport and Concert Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan, April 2-10.
The women’s epee team stared things strong today with an opening round decision over Great Britain, 45-36, and made quick work of Sweden in the quarterfinals, with a 43-31 victory. In the semifinals, Team USA punched its ticket to the championship with a 45-36 defeat of Israel. In the gold-medal match, Team USA faltered and was handed a 45-29 decision.
The women’s squad was lead by Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), who was the only fencer returning from the 2009 bronze medal team, and joined by 2009 Cadet World silver medalist Katharine Holmes (Washington D.C.), Neely Brandfield-Harvey (Houston) and Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.).
The U.S. men’s sabre team improved itself over last year’s seventh-place finish by starting the 2010 Junior Worlds with a 45-36 win over Venezuela. The team then advanced to the semifinals with a 45-33 decision over Belarus. Germany handed the U.S. squad a 45-33 lost, which push the Americans into the bronze-medal match against Korea. Team USA rebounded against Korea and claimed the bronze with a 45-34 victory.
The men’s sabre team featured Daryl Homer (Jamaica, N.Y.), who finished seventh in the individual event several days ago, Eric Fass (Beverly Hills, Calif.), Evan Prochniak (Philadelphia) and Aleksander Ochocki (Clark, N.J.).
On Friday, Team USA will take to the strip in women’s team foil and men’s team epee of the 2010 Junior World Championships and conclude Saturday with the team portion of women’s sabre and men’s foil. The 2010 Junior and Cadet World Championships are organized by the Azerbaijan Fencing Federation and the Azerbaijan Olympic Committee.
For more information on the 2010 Junior and Cadet World Championships visit http://www.bakufencing2010.com/.
For complete results for the 2010 Junior and Cadet World Championships click here.
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Media Contact: Anthony Bartkowski, (719) 510-7331 or email abartkowski@comcast.net.
