USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA earned four of the top eight women’s finishes and three of the top eight men’s results in the individual events at the Cabries Cadet European Cup on Saturday.

Fencing in her second Cadet European Cup, 15-year-old Natalie Yang (Colts Neck, N.J.) brought home the gold and Quinn Crum (Providence, R.I.), the 16-year-old reigning Junior Olympic Champion, made her first international medal a bronze.

Although Yang was seeded just 73^rd out of the pools, she beat her seed with a 15-10 win in the table of 128 against Anastasya Minyaeva (RUS) and a 15-3 victory over Andrea Breteau (ESP) in the 64.

Yang defeated Carlotta Cimiotti (SUI), 15-10, and eighth seed Bella Kulaeva (RUS), 15-2, in the next two rounds to advance to the quarter-finals.

Crum won her table of 128 bout against Ilona Henaff (FRA), 15-6, and took each of her next three bouts by 15-7 scores as she defeated teammate Wei Chee Chen (Birmingham, Ala.), Maho Nishioka (JPN) and Amita Berthier (SIN).

Yang and Crum were joined in the quarter-finals by two of their U.S. teammates – 16-year-old Naomi Popkin (Ridgewood, N.J.) and 14-year-old Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.)

Popkin finished fifth after a 15-5 loss to Yang and Deschner, who won gold in Tauberbischofsheim last month, lost her quarter-final bout to Kitti Bitterova (SVK), 15-9, and placed seventh.

Crum defeated Honorine Millepied (FRA), 15-11, to advance to the semifinals.

Yang won her semi against Karin Miyawaki (JPN), 15-13, and Crum took bronze after a 15-11 loss to Bitterova.

In the final, Yang ended Bitterova’s win streak when she took the bout, 15-11, to win gold.

Yang’s win allowed her to jump from No. 17 in the U.S. cadet team rankings to No. 8 and Crum climbed one spot from No. 7 to No. 6.

While the top four positions in the U.S. cadet women’s foil team rankings remained unchanged after the weekend, a trio of top-eight finishes resulted in significant movement on the men’s side.

Sixteen-year-olds George Haglund (Califon, N.J.) and Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.) and 15-year-old Samuel Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Sixteen-year-old Aaron Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.) placed 15^th which allowed the 16-year-old to move up to the No. 1 U.S. ranking.

Haglund, a silver medalist at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in February, retained his No. 2 position and Branman moved up from fifth to third with Moelis just behind in fourth.

On Sunday, Team USA competed in the men’s and women’s team events.

In the men’s competition, Aaron Ahn, Justin Kang (Fullerton, Calif.), Aiden Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Zohaib Mannan (Short Hills, N.J.) won both of their pool matches with victories over Cote d’Azur (FRA), 45-25, and Great Britain 4, 45-21.

Seeded third in the direct elimination tables, the Americans fenced Cote d’Azur again in the table of 32 and won the rematch, 45-22.

Team USA defeated Portugal, 45-31, in the next round, but finished fifth after a 45-35 loss to Russia 3.

In the women’s competition, Deschner and Chen fenced with teammates Xiao-Qing Tsai (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Mariah Summers (Tigard, Ore.)

The Americans defeated Aegomez / Chambery (POR), 45-31, but lost to Issy Mousque (FRA), 45-37.

Due to the withdrawal of Great Britain’s team from the pool, the Americans’ small pool put them at a disadvantage in the direct elimination tables where they received a 16^th seed.

Team USA lost to Russia I, 45-35, in the table of 16 and finished 16^th overall while Russia I went on to win the gold.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Cabries Women’s Individual Foil Cadet European Cup
1. Natalie Yang (Colts Neck, N.J.)
2. Kitti Bitterova (SVK)
3. Quinn Crum (Providence, R.I.)
3. Karin Miyawaki (JPN)
5. Naomi Popkin (Ridgewood, N.J.)
6. Rio Azuma (JPN)
7. Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.)
8. Honorine Millepied (FRA)

11. Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)
22. Elyssa Kleiner (San Francisco, Calif.)
26. Simone Unwalla (Great Falls, Va.)
38. Samantha Viqueria (Maplewood, N.J.)
39. Wei Chee Chen (Birmingham, Ala.)
47. Shani Edwards (Lexington, Ky.)
54. Grace Ding (Bolton, Mass.)
65. Nicole Vaiani (Belmar, N.J.)
82. Mariah Summers (Tigard, Ore.)
85. Kennedy Lovelace (Frisco, Texas)
93. Xiao-Qing Tsai (Salt Lake City, Utah)
99. Danielle Ferdon (San Francisco, Calif.)

Cabries Men’s Individual Foil Cadet European Cup
1. Nikita Sokolov (RUS)
2. Takahiro Shikine (JPN)
3. Alexey Chuev (RUS)
3. Enguerand Roger (FRA)
5. George Haglund (Califon, N.J.)
6. Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.)
7. Samuel Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.)
8. Bogdan Barmakov (RUS)

15. Aaron Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.)
19. Brian Howard (Petaluma, Calif.)
20. Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.)
22. Albert Zhang (Annandale, N.J.)
25. Umar Masood (Pittsford, N.Y.)
33. Julian Knodt (Palo Alto, Calif.)
35. William Upbin (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
43. Jordan Griffith (Naples, Fla.)
47. Justin Kang (Fullerton, Calif.)
50. Aiden Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.)
51. Nolen Scruggs (Ozone Park, N.Y.)
52. Zohaib Mannan (Short Hills, N.J.)
61. Geoffrey Tourette (Cupertino, Calif.)
73. Sidarth Kumbla (San Jose, Calif.)
79. Alexandre Amice (St. Louis, Mo.)
82. Andrey Ostatnigrosh (Fresno, Calif.)

Cabries Men’s Team Foil Cadet European Cup
1. Japan
2. France 2
3. France 1
4. Russia 3
5. USA
6. Rueil Malmaison
7. Great Britain
8. Singapore 1

Cabries Women’s Team Cadet European Cup
1. Russia 1
2. Russia 2
3. Brazil / Denmark
4. Italy
5. Singapore
6. Japan
7. Japan 2
8. Lyon MDF

16. USA