USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA concluded the Cadet World Championships with a fifth medal on Sunday – a silver from foil fencer George Haglund (Califon, N.J.) whose podium finish moved Team USA to the top of the overall medal standings with one more podium finish than Italy and Russia.

Tied with Renars Blumentals (LAT) at 10 touches each with two minutes left in their table of 32 bout, Haglund scored five of the next six touches to pick up a 15-10 victory.

Haglund took his next bout by a 15-10 score as well when he defeated Mengkai Huang (CHN) in the table of 16.

In the quarter-finals, Haglund and Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG) exchanged the lead throughout the bout before Haglund scored two straight and finished the bout, 15-13.

“I was just thinking to myself that I should stay calm and keep focused. I changed things up a little bit which gave me the edge. Also, all the advice I got from my coach, Marcos, really helped me to pull it out,” Haglund said.

Haglund led his semifinal bout against Enguerrand Roger (FRA) from the start and went on to take a 15-10 victory in the second period in front of a crowd filled with his teammates and parents cheering him on.

“It was really great knowing that I had all of my teammates, my parents, everyone cheering me on and rooting for me. The support really helped me to push myself and go for the win,” Haglund said.  

In the gold medal final, Haglund was overpowered by the top-ranked fencer in the Cadet European standings, Andrzej Rzadkowski (POL) who outscored Haglund, 14-7, in the first period and won the bout with a 15^th touch in the third.

Both of Haglund’s teammates, Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.) and Aaron Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.), were eliminated by Polish fencers in the table of 32.

Gou finished 25^th after a 15-8 loss to Rzadkowski and Ahn lost his bout against Maciej Podralski (POL), 15-10 and finished in 18^th place.

Like the men’s foil squad, all three members of the cadet women’s saber team were first time World Team members.

Violet Michel (Cambridge, Mass.) earned the top finish for the women with a 15^th place finish. Michel upset No. 2 seed Eloisa Passaro (ITA), 15-14, to advance to the table of 16 where she lost to Misaki Emura (JPN), 15-12.

Emura also defeated Sarah Merza (Wayne, N.J.) in the previous round, 15-12.

Preliminary rounds for the junior women’s foil and men’s saber events also were held on Sunday.

Seven-time Junior World medalist Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) began her pursuit of her first individual title with a 5-1 result in the pools and a ninth seed in the table of 64 where she defeated Cheuk Yu Lau (HKG), 15-3.

Kiefer’s win nearly set her up for a table of 32 bout against her teammate, Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) who won her second Cadet World silver medal on Saturday; however, Massialas fell in the table of 64 to Alanna Goldie (CAN), 15-8.

A three-time Junior World team medalist, Jackie Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.) continued her pursuit of an individual medal with a 15-3 win against Kristina Provodnikova (KAZ) in the table of 64.

In the men’s saber competition, Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) and Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) both advanced to the table of 32.

Mackiewicz, a 2012 Cadet World medalist, defeated Kazbek Serkebayev (KAZ), 15-11, in the table of 64 and Loss won his bout against Charles Colleau (FRA), 15-12.

Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) arrived in Plovdiv as the No. 2-ranked junior saber fencer in the world and was favored to win a third straight Junior Word medal, but his run came to an end in the table of 64 after a 15-14 loss to Nuri An (KOR).

Visit www.fencingworldwide.com for complete results.

Cadet Men’s Foil World Championships
1. Andrzej Rzadkowski (POL)
2. George Haglund (Califon, N.J.)
3. Enguerrand Roger (FRA)
3. Guillaume Bianchi (ITA)
5. Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG)
6. Petar Files (CRO)
7. Iskander Akhmetov (RUS)
8. O Chun Yee (HKG)

18. Aaron Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.)
25. Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.)

Cadet Women’s Saber World Championships
1. Alina Moseyko (RUS)
2. Julieta Toledo (MEX)
3. Misaki Emura (JPN)
3. Eunhye Jeon (KOR)
6. Larissa Eifler (GER)
6. Sofia Pozdniakova (rus)
7. Risa Takashima (JPN)
8. Sylwia Matuszak (POL)

15. Violet Michel (Cambridge, Mass.)
21. Sarah Merza (Wayne, N.J.)
34. Riya Dave (Ardsley, N.Y.)