USA Fencing

(Kazan, Russia) – Following its bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games and a trio of top-four results on the World Cup circuit this season, the U.S. Women’s Epee Team earned its best finish at a Senior World Championships with a sixth-place result on Wednesday.

The team of London Olympic team medalists Courtney and Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) and two-time Junior World team medalists Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) and Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) qualified for the top-16 on Wednesday after taking a 45-9 win over Mongolia during the table of 32 bout on Tuesday.

The Hurleys and Holmes fenced in the table of 16 match against Poland where Team USA won seven of nine bouts to advance the table of 16 against Hungary.

Led by the current top-ranked fencer in the world, Emese Szasz, the Hungarians took the lead at 10-7 against Holmes during the second period and Hungary won the match, 45-31.

“They believed we could win a medal and I believed it too,” said Coach Andrey Geva (Houston, Texas). “I thought that, if we could get through Hungary, we could medal and maybe even win this tournament. They were very motivated to get that medal, but, when they lost, it was really hard for them to accept it.”

In the 5th – 8th place table, Team USA defeated Korea, the 2012 Olympic silver medalists, 31-29.

“They really did a really job against Korea,” Geva said. “Both teams lost close quarter-final matches and it was hard for them to have to come back and keep fencing, but, in the end, Courtney was better and stronger than [Korean anchor] Injeong Choi and that’s why we won.”

With one more win needed to claim fifth place, Team USA fenced Romania – the reigning Senior World bronze medalists.

The Americans kept the match close and they changed up the match order with Van Brummen fencing setup for Courtney Hurley, but Romania had still built a 37-34 lead by the end of the eighth.

Hurley outscored Branza at the start of the bout, 4-3, but the Romanian doubled out for a 45-40 victory.

“This isn’t the best we can do. They have a lot more potential. We can beat any team in the world. And we have. We beat China, Russia, Hungary this season. We’ve been very consistent and fenced in the medal rounds as a team three teams this year and Courtney and Kelley each won an individual medal, but we didn’t get it done today,” Geva said. “We picked up a lot of world ranking points, though, and sixth will be good for our season next season in the year before the Olympic year. And that is the ultimate goal. We need to work hard for a top four seed at the Olympics and then I know we can be in a good position for a medal in Rio.”

The men’s team epee event also was held on Wednesday, but the U.S. Men’s Epee Team failed to advance to the table of 16 after a 34-33 loss to Japan in the table of 32 on Tuesday.

For complete results, visit www.fencingworldwide.com.

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

Men’s Epee Team Senior World Championships
1. France
2. Korea
3. Switzerland
4. Russia
5. Ukraine
6. Italy
7. Denmark
8. Hungary

18. USA

Women’s Epee Team Senior World Championships
1. Russia
2. Estonia
3. Italy
4. Hungary
5. Romania
6. USA
7. Korea
8. China