USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Elizabeth Kocab (Farmington Hills, Mich.) showed that she is virtually unbeatable as she won her second career Veteran World title in the 60-69 epee competition on Thursday in Varna, Bulgaria.

A gold medalist as a 50-59 fencer in 2011, Kocab won bronze in 2012 and was determined to reclaim her title this year.

Seeded seventh after a one-touch loss in the pools, Kocab still earned a seventh seed and a bye into the table of 16 where she defeated two-time Veteran World medalist Liubov Mayorova (RUS), 10-4.

Kocab advanced to the semifinals with a quick win over eight-time Veteran World Champion Marja Luisa Someroja (FIN), 10-2.  

Kocab secured a berth in the finals after a 10-3 win over Brigitte Delacour (FRA).

Karin Jansen (GER), a 2004 Veteran World Champion, gave Kocab her closest bout of the day, but the American came out on top for a 10-6 victory.

Two of Kocab’s teammates – Cynthia Runyon (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Jann Ream (Iowa City, Iowa) – both advanced to the table of 16.

Runyon earned a 10-9 win over Edith Stoschitsky (AUT) in the table of 32, but lost to Fiona Haldane (GBR), 10-5, in the table of 16.

Fencing at her first Veteran Worlds since winning bronze in 2004, Jann Ream (Iowa City, Iowa) opened with a 10-5 win over Yoriko Yamada (JPN) in the table of 32.

Ream drew top seeded Ibolya Hoffmann (HUN) in the table of 16, but lost the bout, 10-4.

Bonnie Aher (Brookline, Conn.) was eliminated in the table of 32 after a 4-3 loss to Heidi Braun (GER).

Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.) entered the +70 women’s saber event as reigning Veteran World Champion and the target for her opponents.

Following just one loss in the pools, O’Leary earned a fourth seed and a bye into the quarter-finals. The bout pitted her against Brigitte Greunke (FRA) – O’Leary’s opponent from the 2012 finals and a six-time Veteran World Champion in previous years.

O’Leary took the win, 10-8, to set up a semifinal against her teammate, Louisa Felty (Louisville, Ky.)

Although Felty came into the table of 16 as an eighth seed, she pulled out hard-fought wins over Motoko Kitami (JPN), 10-9, in the table of 16 and top seed Sylvia Brown (GBR), 10-7, in the quarters.

It was O’Leary who controlled the bout, however, to earn a 10-1 victory while Felty claimed the bronze – her first Veteran World medal since 2005.

In the gold medal bout, O’Leary faced another familiar opponent – Marie Demaille (FRA).

Demaille had defeated O’Leary in the quarter-finals of the foil event on Wednesday and is one of the legends of veteran fencing with 13 titles to her credit across all three weapons.

While O’Leary was poised for an upset, Demaille took her 14^th gold medal with a 10-6 win.

Four-time Veteran World Team member Sherry Green (Portland, Ore.) advanced to the table of 16, but lost to Constance Adam (GBR), 10-8.

Una Jackson (Hilton Head, S.C.), also a four-time Veteran World Team member, was eliminated in the pools.

Three-time Veteran World Team member Peter Calderon (Plainsboro, N.J.) earned his best career finish on Thursday with an eighth-place result in the men’s +70 epee event.

After a bye into the table of 32, Calderon edged Jean-Paul Boitel (FRA), 10-9, and took out his teammate, Marcel Miernik (Irvington, N.Y.), 10-3, in the table of 16 on the heels of Miernik’s table of 32 upset win over nine-time Veteran World Champion Gary Aftandilov (RUS).

In the quarter-finals, Calderon lost a close bout to eventual champion Ermes Cassago (ITA), 10-8.

Following his bronze medal win in the foil competition on Tuesday, Ray Sexton III (Round Rock, Texas) finished 13^th in the epee event.

Sexton earned a bye into the table of 32 where he defeated Friedrich Kur (GER), 10-8, but lost to reigning Veteran World Champion Reinhard Munster (DEN), 10-6, in the table of 16.

Kazimieras Campe (Edgewater, Md.), a 1998 Veteran World Champion, lost his first direct elimination bout to Luigi Pietro Monti (ITA), 10-5, in the table of 64.

After a 16^th place finish in the men’s 60-69 saber event, two-time Veteran World medalist Joseph Streb (Columbus, Ohio) advanced to the quarter-finals of the 60-69 foil competition on Thursday.

Seeded third in the direct elimination table, Streb earned a bye into the table of 16 where he defeated his teammate, Thomas Lutton (Cupertino, Calif.), 10-7.

Streb’s bid for a third career Veteran World medal came to an end in the quarters, however, when he was outtouched by Laszlo Imreh (HUN), 10-9.

Joseph Biebel (Bayside, Wis.), a 2003 Veteran World Champion, came out to a strong start with a fourth seed in the table of 32. Although he earned a bye into the table of 16, Biebel ran into another former Veteran World Champion – Vladimir Chubarow (GER) – and lost the bout, 10-9.

Six-time Veteran World Team member Heik Hambarzumian (Anaheim, Calif.) also finished in the top 16.

Hambarzumian won his table of 32 bout against Ravil Zakirov (RUS), 10-3, but lost to Jeno Pap (HUN), 10-8, in the table of 16.

Veteran Women’s 60-69 Epee
1. Elizabeth Kocab (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
2. Karin Jansen (GER)
3. Brigitte Delacour (FRA)
3. Ibolya Hoffmann (HUN)
5. Marja Luisa Someroja (FIN)
6. Iris Gardini (ITA)
7. Fiona Haldane (GBR)
8. Annick Martin (FRA)

11. Cynthia Runyon (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
14. Jann Ream (Iowa City, Iowa)
17. Bonnie Aher (Brookline, Conn.)

Veteran Men’s 60-69 Foil
1. Yutaka Yamazaki (JPN)
2. Jeno Pap (HUN)
3. Kenichi Hinoshita (JPN)
3. Laszlo Imreh (HUN)
5. Giulio Paroli (ITA)
6. Joseph Streb (Columbus, Ohio)
7. Pasquale Parisi (ITA)
8. Vladimir Chubarow (GER)

9. Joseph Biebel (Bayside, Wis.)
11. Heik Hambarzumian (Anaheim, Calif.)
13. Thomas Lutton (Cupertino, Calif.)

Veteran Men’s +70 Epee
1. Ermes Cassago (ITA)
2. Robert Schiel (LUX)
3. Malcolm Fare (GBR)
3. Reinhard Munster (DEN)
5. Robert Phelps (GBR)
6. Tomas Klein (GER)
7. Hans-Christian Cars (SWE)
8. Peter Calderon (Plainsboro, N.J.)

13. Ray Sexton III (Round Rock, Texas)
16. Marcel Miernik (Irvington, N.Y.)
34. Kazimieras Campe (Edgewater, Md.)

Veteran Women’s +70 Saber
1. Marie Demaille (FRA)
2. Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.)
3. Louisa Felty (Louisville, Ky.)
3. Yoshiko Tachibana (JPN)
5. Sylvia Brown (GBR)
6. Brigitte Greunke (GER)
7. Ksenia Tadzhieva (RUS)
8. Constance Adam (GBR)

10. Sherry Green (Portland, Ore.)
13. Una Jackson (Hilton Head, S.C.)