USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. Women’s Epee Team had one of its best weekends in history on the World Cup circuit as the squad garnered a sixth-place finish in the team event as well as a top-eight and two top-16 individual results at the Johannesburg World Cup in South Africa.

London Olympic team bronze medalist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) was exempt from the pools and preliminary rounds on Friday due to her No. 9 World Ranking and opened with a 15-13 win against Josephine Jacques Andre Coquin (FRA) in the table of 64. Hurley fenced a pair of Koreans in the next two rounds where she posted wins against Sera Song and Young Mi Kang by 15-9 and 15-13 scores, respectively.

In the quarter-finals, Hurley’s bout with two-time reigning Senior World Team Champion Violetta Kolobova (RUS) went to overtime where Kolobeva won the bout, 12-10, and went on to take the silver medal.

Hurley’s older sister and 2012 Olympic teammate, Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), finished 5-1 in the pool rounds to take the 22nd seed in the table of 64 where she defeated Eunsook Choi (KOR), 15-9. Hurley took a 15-14 win against Marie Florence Candassamy (FRA) in the table of 32, but missed the quarters by a touch when she lost in the 16 to 2014 Senior World Champion Katrina Lehis (EST), 15-14.

Two-time Senior World Team member Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.) finished 4-2 in the pools and advanced to the table of 64 with a 15-6 win against Amalia Tataran (ROU). On Saturday, Holmes opened with a 15-6 win against Olena Kryvyska (UKR) and won her table of 32 bout against two-time reigning Senior World Team Champion Yana Zvereva (RUS), 15-9. In the table of 16, Holmes and Olga Kochneva (RUS) went to overtime at the end of the third period with Kochneva scoring the winning touch at 14-13.

Kat Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.) also went 4-2 in pools. Trzopek qualified for the table of 64 with a 15-9 win against Sheng Lin (CHN), but lost her opening bout to Mara Navarria (ITA), 15-7. 

With only one Grand Prix tournament remaining on May 23 in Rio de Janeiro before the 2015 Senior World Team is selected, Holmes and the Hurleys each have acquired enough national ranking points to be guaranteed positions on the team. The fourth spot remains open and all of the U.S. athletes who are scheduled to fence in Rio are eligible to make a claim on the final position on Team USA.  

On Sunday, the Hurleys and Holmes fenced in the team competition with 2014 Senior World Team member Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas) who posted a 15-12 win against 2010 Senior World medalist Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA), but lost her bout to make the second day to Francesca Boscarelli (ITA), 15-8.

Seeded fifth in the team event, Team USA earned a bye into the table of 16 where the Americans defeated Germany, 32-30.

In the quarter-finals, Team USA fenced China, the 2012 Olympic Champions and kept the match neck-and-neck until the eighth bout when China took the lead en route to a 30-18 victory. Led by 2012 Olympic individual bronze medalist Yujie Sun, China would go on to win the gold.

Team USA rebounded in the 5th – 8th place table with a 45-31 win against Sweden and ended the day in sixth place with a 38-32 loss to Ukraine.

Click here to view complete individual results.

Click here to view complete team results.

Johannesburg Women’s Individual Epee World Cup
1. Yujie Sun (CHN)
2. Violetta Kolobova (RUS)
3. Olga Kochneva (RUS)
3. Injeong Choi (CHN)
5. Yana Shemyakina (UKR)
6. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
7. Guilia Rizzi (ITA)
8. Katrina Lehis (EST)

12. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
15. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
78. Francesca Bassa (Houston, Texas)
80. Jasmine McGlade (Littleton, Colo.)
92. Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
117. Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.)
126. Natalie Vie (Phoenix, Ariz.)
127. Holly Buechel (New York City)
137. Isabel Ford (Salem, Ore.)
149. Danielle Henderson (Piscataway, N.J.)

Johannesburg Women’s Team Epee World Cup
1. China
2. Romania
3. France
4. Italy
5. Ukraine
6. USA
7. Russia
8. Sweden