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Team USA Wins Five Medals on Day 4 at Veteran Worlds

10/25/2014, 9:15pm CDT
By Nicole Jomantas

Jennette Starks-Faulkner (second from left) and Anne-Marie Walters (second from right) won gold and bronze in the 60-69 women's foil event. Photo Credit: Makranczi László


The U.S. Men's Saber Team won its second straight gold medal at the Vet Worlds. Photo Credit: Chris Matt.

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA won golds in both individual and team events on Friday at the Veteran World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.) became the first U.S. woman ever to win a Veteran World gold medal in foil while the U.S. Men’s Saber Team successfully defended its 2013 title.

Fencing in the 60-69 foil event, Starks-Faulkner entered the Vet Worlds as a two-time medalist who won silver as a 50-59 fencer in 2011.

After a bye into the table of 16, Starks-Faulkner defeated two-time Vet World medalist Liubov Mayorova (RUS), 10-3.

In one of the day’s most exciting bouts, Starks-Faulkner took on Kerstin Palm (SWE) – a seven-time Olympian who has won five World titles since moving on to the veteran ranks. Not only did Starks-Faulkner earn the quarter-final upset, but she defeated Palm by a four-touch margin at 10-6.

Anne-Marie Walters (Parkland, Fla.), a four-time Vet World medalist, also advanced to the quarters where she defeated Kaoru Amari (JPN), 8-7, after a 10-2 win over teammate Judith Offerle (Winnetka, Ill.) in the previous round.

In the semifinals, Starks-Faulkner won her bout against 2012 Vet World Champion Clare Halsted (GBR), 10-4. Walters fenced two-time Vet World Champion Ute Wessel (GER) in the other semi, but lost the bout, 10-3.

Starks-Faulkner won the final bout, 9-5, to earn Team USA’s second individual title of the tournament.

First-time Veteran World Team member Lynnette Whitt (Owings, Md.) also fenced in the 60-69 foil event, but was eliminated after a 1-5 result in the pool rounds.

Together, the six members of the men’s saber team hold 20 individual Veteran World medals, including the silver won by Wang Yung (Bellevue, Wash.) on Thursday.

Yung and teammates Val Kizik (Indianapolis, Ind.), Will Milne (Redwood City, Calif.), Ray Sexton III (Round Rock, Texas), Victor Bianchini (San Diego, Calif.) and David Seuss (Charlestown, Mass.) earned the No. 2 seed in the direct elimination table after wins over Russia and Japan by 30-26 and 30-19 scores, respectively.  

Team USA defeated France, 30-21, and Italy, 30-26, to advance to the gold medal final where the Americans won the title, 30-24, over Russia.

A bronze medalist in the +70 women’s foil event at the 2013 Vet Worlds, Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.) returned to the podium on Friday and was one of four U.S. athletes to earn a top-eight finish in the event.

Seeded third after the pool rounds, Bedrosian earned a bye into the quarter-finals where she defeated teammate Diane Reckling (White Plains, N.Y.), 10-8.

Bedrosian finished with a bronze medal after a 10-7 loss to Marie-Chantal DeMaille (FRA) who went on to win her third straight foil gold medal and 16th career title at the Vet Worlds.

In the previous round, DeMaille also defeated Bedrosian’s teammate, 2011 Vet World medalist Bettie Graham (Washington, D.C.), by a score of 10-5.

Ruth Dodge (Loudon, N.H.) won her table of 16 bout against 2001 Vet World medalist Eva Schlede (GER), 10-5. In the quarters, Dodge lost to six-time Vet World Champion Brigitte Greunke (GER), 10-2.

Fencing at his first Vet Worlds, Jonathan Jefferies (Alameda, Calif.) won bronze in the +70 epee event.

Jefferies drew a bye into the table of 32 where he defeated his teammate, Mark Henry (Potomac, Md.), 10-6.

In the table of 16, Jefferies won his bout against 2001 Vet World Champion Dieter Hecke (GER), 10-4.

Jefferies secured his first Vet World medal with a 10-5 win against Cordt Von Brandis (NOR) in the quarters.

Jefferies missed the gold medal final by a single score after a 10-9 loss to Dieter Allkamper (GER).

Jefferies’s teammates, Jim Adams (Rockville, Md.) and Peter Calderon (Plainsboro, N.J.), were each eliminated in the table of 32.

Adams, a three-time Vet World medalist, lost his table of 32 bout by a 5-4 score to William Osbaldeston (GBR) who went on to win gold.

Calderon was defeated by Hecke, 10-2.

In the men’s 60-69 epee event, 2011 Vet World silver medalist Jere Bothelio (San Jose, Calif.) placed seventh out of a field of 53 competitors.

After a bye into the table of 32, Bothelio won his next two bouts by 10-7 margins against Viktor Sokolov (UKR) and 2001 Vet World medalist Bruno Kachur (GER). In the quarter-finals, Bothelio lost to Volker Fischer (GER), 10-8. Fischer went on to win his third straight title in the event.

Bob Cochrane (Lakeland, Fla.), a two-time Vet World medalist, advanced to the table of 16 after a 10-9 win against Gerrit Beekhuizen (GER). In the next round, Cochrane lost to eventual bronze medalist Thomas Merky (SUI), 10-8.

Drew Ridge (Warminster, Pa.), a 2011 Vet World bronze medalist, was one of just two fencers to go undefeated in pools and entered the DEs as the top seed. Ridge’s table of 32 bout came down to the final touch before he lost to Arnaldo Sisson (BRA), 10-9.

Charles Alexander (Escondido, Calif.) won his table of 64 bout against Vladimir Khavin (RUS), 9-6, but lost in the 32 to Jean Luis Noel (FRA), 10-4.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Veteran Men’s 60-69 Epee World Championships
1. Volker Fischer (GER)
2. Giuseppe Marino (ITA)
3. Thomas Merky (SUI)
3. Philippe Pflug (SUI)
5. Jean Luis Noel (FRA)
6. Francois Ringeissen (FRA)
7. Jere Bothelio (San Jose, Calif.)
8. Peter Osvath (AUS)

10. Bob Cochrane (Lakeland, Fla.)
17. Drew Ridge (Warminster, Pa.)
29. Charles Alexander (Escondido, Calif.)

Veteran Men’s +70 Epee World Championships
1. William Osbaldeston (GBR)
2. Dieter Allkamper (GER)
3. Jonathan Jefferies (Alameda, Calif.)
3. Ilari Saarinen (FIN)
5. Jean Luc Lenoir (FRA)
6. Cordt Von Brandis (NOR)
7. Raoul Blin (FRA)
8. Gabor Erdos (HUN)

22. Mark Henry (Potomac, Md.)
24. Jim Adams (Rockville, Md.)
29. Peter Calderon (Plainsboro, N.J.)

Veteran Women’s 60-69 Foil World Championships
1. Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.)

2. Ute Wessel (GER)
3. Clare Halsted (GBR)
3. Anne-Marie Walters (Parkland, Fla.)
5. Kerstin Palm (GER)
6. Karin Jansen (GER)
7. Brigitte Delacour (FRA)
8. Kaoru Amari (JPN)

11. Judith Offerle (Winnetka, Ill.)
23. Lynnette Whitt (Owings, Md.)

Veteran Women’s +70 Foil World Championships
1. Marie-Chantal DeMaille (FRA)
2. Kristin Payne (GBR)
3. Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.)
3. Brigitte Greunke (GER)
5. Barbel Gorius (GER)
6. Diane Reckling (White Plains, N.Y.)
7. Bettie Graham (Washington, D.C.)
8. Ruth Dodge (Loudon, N.H.)

Veteran Men’s Team Saber World Championships
1. USA

2. Russia
3. Italy
4. Germany
5. Hungary
6. Great Britain
7. France
8. Japan

Tag(s): News  Anne-Marie Walters  Victor Bianchini  Judith Offerle