USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Two-time Olympian Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.) earned his best finish of the new season on Saturday with a seventh-place result at the Paris Epee World Cup in France.

Seeded 12^th in the tournament, Thompson was exempt from the pools and preliminary rounds on Friday and defeated Jonathan Bonnaire (FRA), 15-14, in the table of 64.

In the table of 32, Thompson met Gauthier Grumier – the anchor of the French squad that Team USA defeated to win gold at the 2012 World Team Championships.

Thompson outscored the five-time Senior World Team Champion, 15-14, to advance to the table of 16.

Thompson’s streak of upsets continued in the table of 16 where he knocked off fifth seed Joerg Fiedler (GER), 15-10.

Fencing in the evening final session at the Louvre Carrousel, Thompson lost his quarter-final bout to Alexandre Blaszyck (FRA), 15-7.

Dwight Smith (Elmont, N.Y.) also competed on Saturday where he advanced to the table of 64 for the second time this season.

Smith, who was seeded 25^th after a 6-0 result in the pools on Friday, placed 42^nd overall after a 15-5 loss to Grigori Beskin (ISR).

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Paris Individual Epee World Cup
1. Daniel Jerent (FRA)
2. Alexandre Blaszyck (FRA)
3. Nikolai Novosjolov (EST)
3. Ivan Trevejo (FRA)
5. Max Heinzer (SUI)
6. Gabor Boczko (HUN)
7. Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.)
8. Gabrielle Bino (ITA)

42. Dwight Smith (Elmont, N.Y.)
120. Adam Watson (Richford, Vt.)
134. Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.)
138. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
210. Justin Dion (Fairfield, Conn.)
236. Teddy Sherrill (New York City, N.Y.)
242. Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)
250. Nicholas Vomero (Centerport, N.Y.)