USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA dominated the women’s saber events at the Veteran World Championships on Saturday in Debrecen, Hungary with five medal wins, including two golds.

Jane Eyre (Swedesboro, N.J.) became the most decorated veteran fencer in Team USA’s history when she claimed her fourth individual title and led the Americans to a 1-2-3 in the 60-69 saber event.

Eyre came into the tournament as the reigning World Champion in the event and a former World Champion as a 50-59 fencer where she won titles in 2005 and 2010.

Eyre was nearly unstoppable in the pool rounds where she went undefeated and gave up just three touches to her five opponents to take the No. 1 seed in the direct elimination rounds. Eyre’s teammates, Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.) and Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.), earned the second and third seeds and Linda Dunn (Greenfield, Ind.) finished sixth in the rankings.

All four U.S. athletes earned byes into the table of 16 where Eyre defeated Noelle Yvrard (FRA), 10-3.

Starks-Faulkner, who took up saber for the first time this year, was fresh off a gold medal win in the 60-69 foil event on Friday. The long day appeared to have little effect as narrowly missed a shutout with a 10-1 win over Agnes Rutherford (FRA).

Turner, a three-time Vet World Champion, controlled her bout against Susan Benney (GBR) for a 10-2 win.

Dunn, who won silver at the 2012 Vet Worlds, set up a quarter-final bout against Turner after she defeated Yvonne Walls (GBR), 10-6.

In the quarters, Dunn won the bout against her teammate, 10-8, and Turner finished fifth.

Eyre and Starks-Faulkner secured Team USA’s three-medal finish with wins over four-time Vet World Champion Iris Gardini (ITA) and Kaoru Amari (JPN) by 10-3 and 10-7 scores, respectively.

In the semifinals, Eyre defeated Vivien Frith (GBR), 10-7, and Starks-Faulkner won her bout against Dunn, 10-3.

With the score tied at two in their final bout, Eyre scored seven straight to take a 9-2 lead in the second period. Starks-Faulkner whittled Eyre’s lead down with four unanswered touches before Eyre closed out the bout, 10-6.

While Starks-Faulkner was working on winning silver in the 60-69 saber event, she also fenced in the women’s team foil competition with teammates Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.), Lynn Botelho (Indiana, Pa.), Anne-Marie Walters (Parkland, Fla.) and Lynette Whitt (Owings, Md.)

Fencing in a round-robin event, Team USA posted wins against Germany, 28-27, and France, 26-24. The Americans lost bouts to Great Britain, 29-28, and Finland, 26-25, as well and finished in fourth place – just two touches shy of a bronze medal.

In the +70 women’s saber event, Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.) returned to fence for her second Vet World title after winning gold in 2012.

O’Leary and teammate Catherine Radle (Atlanta, Ga.) both advanced from the pool rounds into the quarters.

O’Leary defeated 2013 bronze medalist Yoshiko Tachibana (JPN) in the quarters, 10-3. Radle, who won bronze in the +70 epee event on Wednesday, lost to Marie-Chantal DeMaille (FRA), 10-4.

In the semis, O’Leary defeated six-time Veteran World Champion to advance to the finals against DeMaille who won the foil and epee titles earlier in the week and defeated O’Leary in the gold medal final in 2013.

This time, the bout was close again with the score tied at five early in the second period. With her teammates cheering her on, O’Leary scored five-straight touches to defeat her rival, 10-5.

A bronze medalist at the 2011 Veteran Worlds, Lydia Mazorol (Simi Valley, Calif.) won her second Vet World medal in the 50-59 saber event.

Mazorol defeated Michele Narey (GBR), 10-4, in the table of 16 and won her next bout, 10-8, against teammate and 2012 Vet World medalist Chaz Smith (Placerville, Calif.)

Mazorol advanced to the gold medal final after she defeated three-time Vet World Champion Friederike Janshen (GER), 10-4, in the semis.

In the final bout, Mazorol lost to Claudia Bandieri (ITA), 10-4, and made her second Vet World medal a silver.

Former Vet World Champion Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio) placed seventh in a field of 83 men’s 50-59 epee fencers.

Dragonetti earned a bye into the table of 64 where he defeated Oleksandr Gospodynov (UKR), 10-2. In the next round, Dragonetti defeated Leszek Heronimek (POL), 10-5

Dragonetti won his table of 16 bout against Jeffrey Hudson (GBR), 10-3, but fell a touch short of securing a medal when he lost to Michael Burkardt (GER), 10-9, in the quarters.

John Varney (Issaquah, Wash.) defeated Yoshitsugu Suga (JPN), 10-1, after a bye into the table of 64. In the next round, Varney lost to Volodymyr Sokolov (UKR), 10-3. The Ukrainian went on to take his third career Vet World gold medal.

Doug Thistlethwaite (Norco, Calif.) fenced in the table of 64 where he lost to 2013 Vet World bronze medalist Cosimo Ferro (ITA), 10-9.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Veteran Men’s 50-59 Epee World Championships
1. Volodymyr Sokolov (UKR)
2. Luc Cartillier (AUS)
3. Michael Burkardt (GER)
3. Istvan Thuranszky (HUN)
5. Herve Le Barbier (FRA)
6. Roman Semykoz (UKR)
7. Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio)
8. Philippe Cony (FRA)

16. Jeffrey Hudson (Glendale, Ohio)
30. John Varney (Issaquah, Wash.)
45. Doug Thistlethwaite (Norco, Calif.)

Veteran Women’s 50-59 Saber World Championships
1. Claudia Bandieri (ITA)
2. Lydia Mazorol (Simi Valley, Calif.)
3. Jane Hutchinson (GBR)
3. Friederieke Janshen (GER)
5. Gabriella Lionetti (ITA)
6. Chaz Smith (Placerville, Calif.)
7. Sylvie Zini (FRA)
8. Miyako Derose (JPN)

10. Robin Pernice (Carlisle, Mass.)
17. Rachelle Arama (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Veteran Women’s 60-69 Saber World Championships
1. Jane Eyre (Swedesboro, N.J.)
2. Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Ohio)
3. Linda Dunn (Indianapolis, Ind.)
3. Vivien Frith (GBR)
5. Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.)
6. Yoshiko Chikubu (JPN)
7. Kaoru Amari (JPN)
8. Iris Gardini (ITA)

Veteran +70 Women’s Saber World Championships
1. Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.)
2. Marie-Chantal DeMaille (FRA)
3. Brigitte Greunke (GER)
3. Motoko Kitami (JPN)
5. Yoshiko Tachibana (JPN)
6. Brigitte Martin (FRA)
7. Annegret Hamann (GER)
8. Catherine Radle (Atlanta, Ga.)

Veteran Women’s Team Foil World Championships
1. Germany
2. Finland
3. Great Britain
4. USA
5. France