USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Eighteen-year-old Ben Natanzon (Manalapan, N.J.) made his second straight Junior World Cup medal a gold on Saturday when he won his first Junior World Cup title in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Natanzon, who won bronze in Sosnowiec, Poland last month, is not only seeking to qualify for his first Junior World Team, but to medal in his debut at the event in April of 2016.

Natanzon went 5-1 in the pool rounds and won his first direct elimination bout, 15-12, over George Dragomir (ROU) before defeating Simon Rapp (GER), 15-5, to qualify for the table of 32.

After a 15-11 win over Balazs Meszaros (HUN), Natanzon was one of four U.S. fencers to advance to the table of 16.

Natanzon fenced his teammate, Grant Williams (Atlanta, Ga.) and won the bout, 15-11, to qualify for the quarter-finals for the fifth straight time on the international circuit.

Natanzon’s teammates, Jonathan Fitzgerald (East Brunswick, N.J.) and Eddie Chin (Livingston, N.J.) finished 13th and 16th after losses to William Deary (GBR) and Hugo Soler (FRA) by 15-9 and 15-11 scores, respectively.

In the quarters, Natanzon won his bout against Anatoliy Kostenko (RUS), 15-12, to secure a medal.

Natanzon fenced a pair of Italians in the medal rounds and dominated both bouts, defeating Leonardo Dreossi, 15-6, in the semis and Junior World No. 2 Dario Cavaliere, 15-9, for gold.

A 2014 Cadet World Team member, Natanzon remains the No. 1 junior men’s saber fencer in the United States as well while Chin is ranked No. 2 and Williams moved past 2015 Junior World Team member Calvin Liang (Chandler, Ariz.) to take the No. 3 position in the rankings.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Plovdiv Men’s Saber Junior World Cup
1. Ben Natanzon (Manalapan, N.J.)
2. Dario Cavaliere (ITA)
3. William Deary (GBR)
3. Leonardo Dreossi (ITA)
5. Anatoliy Kostenko (RUS)
6. Mate Bancsics (HUN)
7. Hugo Soler (FRA)
8. Mohamed Amer (EGY)

13. Jonathan Fitzgerald (East Brunswick, N.J.)
15. Grant Williams (Atlanta, Ga.)
16. Eddie Chin (Livingston, N.J.)
20. Karol Metryka (Linden, N.J.)
23. Dawson Sieradzky (Wayne, N.J.)
39. Andrew Doddo (South Orange, N.J.)
40. Philippe Guy (San Diego, Calif.)
41. Julian Merchant (Philadelphia, Pa.)
42. Mikolaj Bak (Linden, N.J.)
74. Calvin Liang (Chandler, Ariz.)
117. Connor Mills (Medford, N.J.)