USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – USA Fencing is pleased to announce that tickets are now available online for the San Jose Men’s Foil World Cup – the first men’s foil Olympic qualifying event of the 2015-16 season which will be held in San Jose, Calif. from Oct. 16-18.

The World Cup will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. The event is expected to feature more than 150 of the top men’s foil fencers in the world, including World and Olympic Champions, who will compete in both individual and team events.

“Having the opportunity to hold an international Olympic qualifier on U.S. soil is rare and we know the San Jose community will enjoy the chance to see the best men’s foil fencers in the world in action up close before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,” said USA Fencing Director of Operations Christine Strong-Simmons (Colorado Springs, Colo.) ”The San Jose Sports Authority and Team San Jose have been great partners in the past and we are looking forward to working with their staffs again this fall.”

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2214378 with prices beginning at $5 for preliminary competition on Oct. 16. Full day passes for the individual direct elimination rounds on Oct. 17 and team competition on Oct. 18 are $30 per day, including finals. A two-day discounted pass is available for $50.

VIP packages also are available and include all-session tickets with VIP seating as well as a private reception and athlete meet-and-greets. Visit www.usfencing.org/VIPSanJose for more details on VIP packages.

Ticket details and competition schedule are as follows:

Friday, Oct. 16
10 a.m.
Individual Preliminary Rounds
$5 Full Day

Saturday, Oct. 17
9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Individual Table of 64 – Quarter-finals

6:30 p.m.
Individual Semis and Finals
$30 Full Day

Sunday, Oct. 18
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Team Direct Elimination Rounds

4 p.m.
Gold and Bronze Medal Finals
$30 Full Day

Receive a $10 discount when you purchase a two-day pass for Saturday and Sunday for just $50.

Located in the Bay Area, San Jose is the tenth largest U.S. city and has hosted dozens of national and international events for Olympic sports, including Olympic Trials for gymnastics, judo and taekwondo, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as well as the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer All-Star Games and the USA vs. China game in the 2009 FIVB World League Volleyball series. San Jose also has been the home of numerous major fencing events, including the 2015 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge – the largest fencing tournament in the world which took from June 27 – July 6.

“San Jose and USA Fencing have built a wonderful partnership over the past 20 years, and we are truly honored to have the privilege of hosting an event that carries the prestige and notoriety of the Men’s Foil World Cup,” said Patricia Ernstrom (San Jose, Calif.), Executive Director of the San Jose Sports Authority. “We look forward to welcoming everyone involved with the event – athletes, fans, coaches, staff and media – and sharing the hospitality of the Capital of Silicon Valley.”

Team USA’s squad will include at least 12 competitors who are hopefuls for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team. The squad is expected to be highlighted by all four members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team who won silver at the 2013 Senior Worlds: Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Alex Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.), Miles Chamley-Watson (New York City, N.Y.) and Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.)

"I’m really excited that the World Cup will be returning to the Bay Area this fall. It’s a great opportunity to promote the sport of fencing in the U.S. and to compete with the home crowd behind us,” said Meinhardt, a two-time Olympian who became the first U.S. foil fencer to earn a World No. 1 ranking in 2014.

The team will be coached by Greg Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.), a three-time Olympian who also coached the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

“After many years of traveling abroad, the USA Men's Foil squad is fortunate to start this Rio Olympic season with this World Cup on our home turf. These days, San Jose will feel more like a mini home for the USA Men's Foil Team, as we will be having our final World Championship training camp this June/July here in San Jose during the Nationals, and then the first World Cup of the Olympic season in October,” Massialas said. “Personally, I was training in San Jose for the Olympics back in the 1980s, so I look forward to coming back down from San Francisco for this cycle of important Olympic events.”