USA Fencing

(Moscow, Russia) – London Olympic team bronze medalist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) earned her second top-16 result at the Senior World Championships in the past three years when she placed 12th in the women’s epee event on Wednesday.

After going 6-0 in the pools on Tuesday, Hurley took the No. 17 seed in the table of 64 on Wednesday.

Hurley fenced Young Mi Kang (KOR) in the 64 and held a tie score at 10 after the first two periods when Coach Andrey Geva (Houston, Texas) yelled for her to fence like it’s the last bout of a team match.

Hurley, who served as the anchor for Team USA when the Americans won bronze in London, quickly scored two singles and a double to take a 13-11 lead. Kang scored again, but Hurley answered with two more singles to end the bout, 15-12.

In the table of 32, Hurley would meet her U.S. teammate, three-time Senior World Team member Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) who scored three straight singles in the opening bout against two-time Olympic Team Champion Tatiana Logunova (RUS) and went on to hold her three-touch lead and win the bout, 15-12. The win allowed Holmes to avenge her loss to Logunova in the table of 16 at the Xuzhou World Cup last fall and move into the table of 32 for the third straight year.

Hurley came into the bout with a 3-0 advantage in their international matchups, including wins in the gold medal final of the Pan American Championships in 2013 and 2014.

Although the two were tied at 3-3 early in the first period, Hurley finished the period with two singles and went on to outscore her teammate, 10-5, after a scoreless minute in the second sent the bout to the third where Hurley outscored Holmes, 5-3, for a 15-8 win.

Hurley fenced reigning Senior World Champion Rossella Fiamingo (ITA) in the table of 16 and led the bout, 4-2, after the first period. Fiamingo tied the bout at six in the second period and held the lead throughout the remainder of the bout which she won, 15-11, in the third. Fiamingo went on to win her second straight Senior World title.  

Hurley’s older sister, London Olympic team bronze medalist Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), was exempt from the pool rounds and drew Avital Marinuk (ISR) in the table of 64. With the score tied at 13 late in the third, Hurley hit a pair of singles for a 15-13 victory.

In the table of 32, Hurley trailed Alexandra Ndolo (GER) by just a touch at 6-5 after the first period,  but the German scored nine of the next 12 touches to win the bout, 15-8.

Fencing for Team USA for the first time after gaining citizenship from the United States, former Polish fencer Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.) went 3-3 in the pools on Tuesday, but rebounded with a 15-10 win over Juliana Barrett (RSA) in the prelim DE tables.

With one win remaining to qualify for the second day of competition, Trzopek lost her next bout to Ndolo, 15-13.

In the men’s event, Ben Bratton (New York City) returned to the Senior World Championships for the first time since winning the 2012 World Team title.

Bratton won five of his six pool bouts on Tuesday and took a 10-9 overtime win against Jongkwan Na (KOR) in the preliminary table of 64 to qualify for the second day of competition.

On Wednesday, Bratton held an 8-5 lead against Alexander Lahtinen (FIN) after the first period and was up, 13-8, after the second when Lehtinen came back with two singles to start the third period. Bratton remained calm, however, and finished the bout, 15-11.

In the table of 32, Bratton fenced Gauthier Grumier (FRA) – a four-time Senior World Team Champion who held the No. 2 seed in the tournament after winning individual bronze at the 2014 Senior Worlds. Although Bratton held a 2-2 tie early in the bout, he never got past Grumier who went on to take a 15-7 win.

Former Cuban fencer Yeisser Ramirez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) went 5-1 at the pool rounds and defeated Pedro Arede (POR), 15-8, to qualify for the table of 64 at his first Senior Worlds.

Ramirez lost his first bout on Wednesday, 15-10, against Oleg Sokolov (UKR).

Three-time Senior World Team member Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) narrowly escaped the pool rounds with a 3-2 record, but took a walkover win against Mateusz Nycz (POL) in the prelim table of 128 and a 15-9 victory over Radoslaw Zawrotniak (POL) to qualify for his first table of 64 at a Senior Worlds.

Pryor held an 11-9 lead after the second period when the bout was sent into overtime when just one touch was scored by Heinzer early in the third.

With a minute on the clock, Pryor was up, 13-11, when Heinzer scored two singles just a second apart to tie the bout. After a double touch, Heinzer hit Pryor with another quick shot single for a 15-14 win with 10 seconds remaining in the bout.

Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas), a 2013 Cadet World Champion, missed out on the DE rounds after he lost four of six bouts in the pool rounds at his first Senior Worlds.

Both epee squads will return to competition for the early rounds of the team event on Friday. The women’s epee team will include Holmes and the Hurleys as well as two-time Junior World medalist Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas). The men’s team will include Pryor, Bratton, Ramirez and Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – a 2014 Senior World Team member who anchored Team USA to a Pan American Championship title for the first time since 2011 this past April.

Men’s Individual Epee Senior World Championships
1. Geza Imre (HUN)
2. Gauthier Grumier (FRA)
3. Patrick Jorgensen (DEN)
3. Seung Hwa Jung (KOR)
5. Enrico Garozzo (ITA)
6. Andrea Santarelli (ITA)
7. Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN)
8. Zhen Li (CHN)

26. Ben Bratton (New York City)
48. Yeisser Ramirez (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
62. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
148. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)

Women’s Individual Epee Senior World Championships
1. Rossella Fiamingo (ITA)
2. Emma Samuelsson (SWE)
3. Sarra Besbes (TUN)
3. Anqi Xu (CHN)
5. Simona Gherman (ROU)
6. Katrina Lehis (EST)
7. Bianca Del Carretto (ITA)
8. Loredana Dinu

12. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
22. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
31. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
81. Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.)