USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas) earned the U.S. Fencing Team’s top finish during the opening day of competition at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia on Sunday.

Bassa, a senior at Stanford and 2009 Junior World Team bronze medalist, placed 28^th in her WUGs debut.

Seeded 37^th after a 3-2 result in the pools, Bassa defeated Lis Fautsch (LUX), 15-11, in the table of 64. She narrowly missed the table of 16 after a 15-14 loss to two-time individual Junior World medalist Eunsook Choi (KOR).

Two members of the team that won bronze at the 2012 Junior World Championships, Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), each advanced to the table of 64.

Both athletes went 4-2 in the pools with Holmes losing in the table of 64 to Dominika Mosler (POL), 15-11, and Severson dropping her opening direct elimination bout to Anfisa Pochkalova (UKR), 15-9.

Holmes, a junior at Princeton, and Severson, a junior at Notre Dame, finished 41^st and 43^rd, respectively.

Although Northwestern junior Courtney Dumas (Shaker Heights, Ohio) won gold at the Division IA Nationals in Columbus last week, she fell short of advancing to the direct elimination rounds in Kazan after posting a 1-5 result in pools. 

In the men’s saber competition, Harvard’s Thomas Kolasa (Princeton, N.J.) and Penn State’s Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.) all placed in the top 64.

Kolasa won four of five pool bouts to earn a 15^th seed, but placed 33^rd after a 15-9 loss to Daniel Olejnik (POL).

After splitting his pool bouts, 3-3, Bak lost to Francesco Darmiento (ITA), 15-5, in the table of 64 and placed 44^th.

Streets, who traveled to Kazan from Columbus, Ohio where he won a U19 silver medal at the July North American Cup, posted a 2-3 pool record. Seeded 44^th, Streets drew 2011 Junior World medalist Maximilian Kindler (GER) in the table of 64 and lost the bout, 15-9, and finished 49^th overall.

Donovan Deans (Tempe, Ariz. / Arizona State) lost all six of his pool bouts and was eliminated. 

Competition continues on Monday with the men’s epee and women’s foil competitions.

Visit http://kazan2013.ru/en for complete results.

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

World University Games Women’s Individual Epee
1. A Lam Shin (KOR)
2. Yiwen Sun (CHN)
3. Marie Florence Candassamy (FRA)
3. Simona Pop (ROU)
5. Renata Knapik (POL)
6. Eunsook Choi (KOR)
7. Tatayana Andryushina (RUS)
8. Kristina Kuusk (EST)

28. Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas)
41. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
43. Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)

World University Games Men’s Individual Saber
1. Kamil Ibragimov (RUS)
2. Luigi Angelo Miracco (ITA)
3. Massimiliano Murolo (ITA)
3. Veniamin Reshetnikov (RUS)
5. Beka Bazadze (GEO)
6. Riccardo Nuccio (ITA)
7. Max Kindler (GER)
8. Sandra Bazadze (GEO)

33. Thomas Kolasa (Princeton, N.J.)
44. Adrian Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
49. Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.)