USA Fencing

(Kazan, Russia) – All four members of the U.S. Women’s Epee Team Advanced to the table of 32, but each was eliminated before the medal rounds at the Senior World Championships on Sunday.

London Olympic team medalist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) earned Team USA’s highest finish with an 18th place result. Hurley entered the table of 64 as the fifth seed. By midway through the third period of her first bout, Hurley held a 14-12 lead against two-time Junior World medalist Dominika Mosler (POL) before Mosler picked up two singles to tie the score at 14. After four double touches, Hurley finally broke through with a single score to take the win, 15-14.

In the table of 32, the situation was reversed and Hurley was down by two touches against Ayaka Shimookawa (JPN) in the final minute of the second period with a 14-12 score. Hurley stole two singles to tie the bout, but Shimookawa scored again with three seconds left in the period for a 15-14 victory.

Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), Courtney’s older sister and London teammate, fenced a cautious first two periods in her table of 64 bout against Myoungsun Kim (KOR) where she took a passivity call halfway through the first period and tied the score at three by the end of the second period. Hurley gave herself an 8-5 lead by the final minute of the bout and scored seven more touches in a sprint to the finish as she won the bout, 15-10.

Hurley’s next opponent, Violetta Kolobova was a member of the Russian team that the Americans defeated in the bronze medal final in London. Two years later, it was Kolobova’s turn to avenge the loss as she defeated Hurley, 15-7. Hurley 22nd overall – her best result at the Senior Worlds since finishing in the top 16 in 2010.

Former Junior World and current Princeton teammates Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) tied for 28th place.

A two-time Senior World Team member, Holmes fenced 2014 European Champion Bianca Del Carretto (ITA) in the table of 64 and kept the score tied at three by the end of the first period. During the next two periods, Holmes controlled the bout and scored a series of doubles while giving up just two single touches to Del Carretto. By the end of the bout, Holmes had secured a 14-10 lead when she doubled out for a 15-11 victory.

Holmes’s second direct elimination bout also came down to the wire. Injeong Choi (KOR) led the bout from the start, but Holmes began to catch the Korean in the final minute. With Choi up, 13-10, at the start of the minute, Holmes began picking off touches as she cut the Korean’s lead to one at 14-13. With 16 seconds left, Choi scored a single and won the bout, 15-13.

Although Van Brummen is fencing at her first Senior Worlds, the two-time Junior World team medalist won her first bout by the largest margin of any bout in the table of 64. Van Brummen scored 14 of her 15 touches off singles as she dominated her opponent, Kinka Barvestad (SWE) in less than three minutes for a 15-4 victory.

In the table of 32, Van Brummen lost her bout to 2012 Olympic Team Champion A Lam Shin (KOR) by a score of 15-10.

The U.S. Women’s Epee Team will have another chance at the podium on Wednesday when the Hurleys join with Holmes and Van Brummen to compete in the team event.

Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was the only U.S. Men’s Epee Team member to advance to the table of 64 after his wins in the preliminary rounds on Thursday. With one touch separating Moody and Silvio Fernandes (VEN) in the third period, the athletes opted to take a passivity call and send the bout into an overtime minute with Fernandes leading the bout, 9-8. As the clock ran down and neither athlete had scored, Moody began attacking quickly. Fernandes countered each time and picked up four straight touches in the final 10 seconds of the bout.

Moody will fence in the team competition on Wednesday with Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Adam Watson (Richford, Vt.) who were eliminated in the early rounds on Thursday and did not fence in the table of 64.

Monday will be the first day of the team competition with the women’s saber events beginning at 9 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern) and the men’s events taking place at 1 p.m. local time (5 a.m. Eastern).

The U.S. Women’s Saber Team will open with a table of 16 bout against Kazakhstan.  

The U.S. Men’s Saber Team will fence Argentina in the table of 16.

Team rosters are as follows:

Women’s Saber

• Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.), two-time Olympic and four-time Senior World Champion
• Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.), 2012 Olympian and three-time Senior World team bronze medalist
• Eliza Stone (Chicago, Ill.), 2013 Senior World team bronze medalist
• Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.), three-time Senior World team bronze medalist

Men’s Saber

• Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.), 2012 Olympian and 2011 Pan American Champion
• Jeff Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.), 2012 Olympian and 2012 Pan American silver medalist
• Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.), three-time Junior World medalist
• Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.), 2014 Junior World team bronze medalist

For complete results, visit www.fencingworldwide.com.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows, including athletes who placed outside the top 64 on Thursday:

 Men’s Epee Senior World Championships
1. Ulrich Robeiri (FRA)
2. Kyoungdoo Park (KOR)
3. Enrico Garozzo (ITA)
3. Gauthier Grumier (FRA)
5. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR)
6. Pavel Sukhov (RUS)
7. Anton Avdeev (RUS)
8. Sten Prinitis (EST)

55. Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
71. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
116. Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
143. Adam Watson (Richford, Vt.)

Women’s Epee Senior World Championships
1. Rossella Fiamingo (ITA)
2. Britta Heidemann (GER)
3. Erika Kirpu (EST)
3. Yana Shemyakina (UKR)
5. Emese Szasz (HUN)
6. Injeong Choi (KOR)
7. Irina Embrich (EST)
8. Man Wai Kong

18. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
22. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
28. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
28. Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)