USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Thirteen-year-old Jack Woods (Maplewood, N.J.) became the first U.S. fencer in eight years to win gold in the Minimes (Y14) event at the Challenge CEP Marathon Foil Tournament in France on Sunday.

Woods advanced as one of five U.S. fencers to qualify from a field of 440 on Saturday to the table of 128 on Sunday.

Fencing in a 10-touch format, Woods drew a bye into the table of 128 and won his next two bouts by 10-8 scores against Jacob Randt Lang (DEN) and Simon Pinson (FRA).

Woods defeated Etsuki Ibihara (JPN), 10-6, and Yat Long Lee (HKG), 10-8, but lost to Taro Nakamura (JPN), 10-9.

Woods rebounded with a 10-4 win against Bryan Becu (FRA) to qualify for the quarter-finals.

After 10-4 victories against French fencers Rafael Savin and Hadrien Cousseau, Woods got another chance to fence Nakamura and avenged his previous loss by taking just over 90 seconds to defeat his rival, 10-1.

On the women’s side, Paige Luong (Millbrae, Calif.) won five straight bouts to advance to the quarter-finals of her Y14 competition and narrowly missed the medal rounds after a 10-8 loss to Aude De Brem (FRA).

In the cadet men’s tournament, Andrew Kang (New York, N.Y.) earned Team USA’s top finish with a 31st place result.

Delphine Devore (Westport, Conn.) placed just outside the top-eight of the cadet women’s event where she finished 10th.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Cadet Men’s Challenge CEP Marathon Foil Tournament
1. Kenta Suzumura (JPN)
2. Jose Pedro Charreu (POR)
3. Takuma Ito (JPN)
4. Tyvan Bibard (FRA)
5. Benoit Hecher (FRA)
6. Alberto Castiglioni (ITA)
7. Lambert Massol (FRA)
7. Yudai Nagano (JPN)

31. Andrew Kang (New York, N.Y.)
33. Zachary Hammer (San Mateo, Calif.)
40. Aidan Chu (San Francisco, Calif.)

Cadet Women’s Challenge CEP Marathon Foil Tournament
1. Alice Recher (FRA)
2. Serena Publia (ITA)
3. Alessandra Pisano (ITA)
4. Pia Ueltgesforth (GER)
5. Maria Teresa Pacelli (ITA)
6. Elodie Oudot (FRA)
7. Maelle Baronnet (FRA)
8. Nikol Tyshler (RUS)

10. Delphine Devore (Westport, Conn.)
27. Shiaoching Tse (Apex, N.C.)
29. Olympia Peters (Tenafly, N.J.)
32. Zoe Sylverster-Chin (Teaneck, N.J.)
50. Amy Jia (Houston, Texas)
61. Haley Koo (Old Tappan, N.J.)
67. Anisha Kasi (New York, N.Y.)
89. Madeline Liao (Fresno, Calif.)
94. Aubrey Molloy (Lebanon, N.J.)

Minimes Men’s Challenge CEP Marathon Foil Tournament
1. Jack Woods (Maplewood, N.J.)
2. Taro Nakamura (JPN)
3. Kim-Ulric Seytor (FRA)
4. Hadrien Cousseau (FRA)
5. Noe Mandiogou Robin (FRA)
6. Rafael Savin (FRA)
7. Simon Pinson (FRA)
8. Yat Long Lee (HKG)

11. Kerry Lu (San Francisco, Calif.)
15. Cole Johnson (Novato, Calif.)
43. Kevin Lu (San Francisco, Calif.)
49. Leo Zaroff (San Francisco, Calif.)

Minimes Women’s Challenge CEP Marathon Foil Tournament
1. Isabella Gill (ITA)
2. Josephine Fourniguet (FRA)
3. Marta Ricci (ITA)
4. Aude De Brem (FRA)
5. Yasmin Campbell (GBR)
6. Jekaterina Solodkiha (LAT)
7. Yukino Tosa (JPN)
8. Paige Luong (Millbrae, Calif.)

11. Julia Thompson (Montclair, N.J.)
25. Annora Lee (New York, N.Y.)
39. Sara Ann Martos (El Cerrito, Calif.)
45. Joanne Luong (Millbrae, Calif.)
51. Madeleine Nishimura (Concord, Calif.)
52. Miya Herman (Hillsborough, Calif.)
61. Erika Wong (San Francisco, Calif.)
73. Audrey Hirschman (San Carlos, Calif.)