USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – With the final Paralympic qualifying event less than a month away, two members of Team USA received a confidence boost with a pair of bronze medal wins at the Laval Wheelchair World Cup in Canada over the weekend.

Four-time Paralympian Andrea De Mello (New York City, N.Y.) and newcomer Melissa Chandler (Salt Lake City, Utah) each won bronze medals in the Category B women’s saber competition on Thursday.

Less than four months after entering her first national tournament, Chandler won two of her three pool bouts to advance to the direct elimination rounds as the No. 2 fencer.

After defeating World No. 1 Irma Khetsuriani (GEO), 5-1, in pools, the Georgian won their semifinal, 15-9, and went on to take gold.

De Mello, who represented Team USA at the 2008 Paralympic Games, previously fenced for Brazil during the previous three Games and is hoping to return to Rio de Janeiro as a U.S. team member.

Although she went 0-3 in the pool rounds, De Mello kept her bout against Sophie Sablon (FRA) close before dropping the semifinal, 15-12.

De Mello also placed in the top 16 in the Category B women’s epee competition.

De Mello and two-time Wheelchair World Team member Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.) each posted 2-3 pool results to earn the 12th and 13th seeds in the table of 16, respectively.

The Americans each needed one win to advance to the quarter-finals and fence each other.

The matchup would not come to fruition, however, as De Mello drew five-time Paralympic Champion Yui Chong Chan (HKG) and dropped her bout, 15-7, for a 12th place result. Geddes lost her bout to 2012 Paralympic Champion Fang Yao (CHN), 15-5, and finished 13th.  

Geddes also fenced in the Category B women’s foil competition. With a 1-5 pool result, Geddes advanced to the direct elimination rounds, but finished 17th after a 15-11 loss to Sylvi Tauber (GER) in the 32.

London Paralympian Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.) earned a top-16 result in the Category B men’s saber event as he aims to qualify for his second Games.

Brinson finished the pool rounds, 2-3, to advance to the table of 32 where he defeated Manfred Boehm (AUT), 15-6.

In the table of 16, Brinson lost to 2013 Wheelchair World Champion Alessio Sarri (ITA), 15-3. Sarri, the top-seeded fencer in the field, went on to win gold and Brinson finished 15th.  

Brinson also advanced to the table of 32 in the Category B men’s epee event. Brinson went 2-4 in the pool rounds, but finished 19th after a 15-9 loss to Romain Gandrillon (FRA).

A two-time Wheelchair World Champion in the Category C events, six-time Paralympian Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.) earned a pair of top-32 results while fencing up to Category B.

Lovejoy went 1-3 in the Category B men’s foil pools to advance to the DEs where he lost to Jerome Prevot (FRA), 15-5.

In the Category B men’s epee competition, Lovejoy ended pools in 16th place with a 2-3 record. He then lost his table of 32 bout to Weol Jae Yoon (KOR), 15-7.

Two-time Wheelchair World Team member Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ore.) finished the Category A men’s epee pools with a 2-3 record, but finished 19th after a 15-2 loss to Norbert Calka (POL) in the table of 32.

Click here to view complete results. 

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

Category A Men’s Epee Laval Wheelchair World Cup
1. Gang Sun (CHN)
2. Maxim Shaburov (RUS)
3. Matteo Betti (ITA)
3. Piers Gilliver 9GBR)
5. Jianguan Tian (CHN)
6. Romain Noble (FRA)
7. Roman Fedyaev (RUS)
8. Dariusz Pender (POL)

19. Leo Curtis (Rainier, Wash.)

Category B Men’s Epee
1. Daoliang Hu (CHN)
2. Alexander Kuzyukov (RUS)
3. Andrei Pranevich (BLR)
3. Kamil Rzasa (POL)
5. Alexander Kurzin (RUS)
6. Istvan Tarjanyi (HUN)
7. Chik Sum Tam (HKG)
8. Dimitri Coutya (GBR)

18. Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)
20. Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)

Category A Women’s Epee
1. Jing Bian (CHN)
2. Xu Zou (CHN)
3. Amarilla Veres (HUN)
3. Chuncui Zhang (CHN)
5. Yuliya Efimova (RUS)
6. Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (HUN)
7. Chui Yee Yu (HKG)
8. Justine Charissa Ng (HKG)

26. Vikki Mueller Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

Category B Women’s Epee
1. Simone Briese-Baetke (GER)
2. Marta Makowska (POL)
3. Viktoria Boykova (RUS)
3. Yui Chong Chan (HKG)
5. Alesia Makrytskaya (BLR)
6. Jingjing Zhou (CHN)
7. Fang Yao (CHN)
8. Cecile Demaude (FRA)

12. Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)
13. Andrea De Mello (New York City, N.Y.)
18. Melissa Chandler (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Category A Men’s Foil
1. Gang Sun (CHN)
2. Richard Osvath (HUN)
3. Matteo Betti (ITA)
3. Roman Fedyaev (RUS)
5. Piers Gilliver (GBR)
6. Ruyi Ye (CHN)
7. Artur Yusupov (RUS)
8. Maxim Shaburov (RUS)

Category B Men’s Foil
1. Daoliang Hu (CHN)
2. Yan Ke Feng (CHN)
3. Marco Cima (ITA)
3. Anton Datsko (UKR)
5. Maxime Valet (FRA)
6. Dimitri Coutya (GBR)
7. Albert Kamalov (RUS)
8. Alim Latreche (FRA)

17. Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)
19. Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Category A Women’s Foil
1. Jing Rong (CHN)
2. Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (HUN)
3. Chuncui Zhang (CHN)
3. Xu Feng Zou (CHN)
5. Jing Bian (CHN)
6. Yuliya Efimova (RUS)
7. Chui Yee Yu (HKG)
8. Alena Evdokimova (RUS)

26. Vikki Mueller Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

Category B Women’s Foil
1. Beatrice Maria Vio (ITA)
2. Fang Yao (CHN)
3. Simone Briese-Baetke (GER)
3. Jingjing Zhou (CHN)
5. Viktoria Boykova (RUS)
6. Irina Mishurova (RUS)
7. Gyongyi Dani (HUN)
8. Junhgah Kim (KOR)

17. Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)
18. Melissa Chandler (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Category A Men’s Saber
1. Yijun Chen (CHN)
2. Jianquan Tian (CHN)
3. Andrii Demchuk (UKR)
3. Ludovic Lemoine (FRA)
5. ROmain Noble (FRA)
6. Evgeny Pochevalin (RUS)
7. Wing Kin Chan (HKG)
8. Ruyi Ye (CHN)

Category B Men’s Saber
1. Alessio Sarri (ITA)
2. Anton Datsko (UKR)
3. Adrian Castro (POL)
3. Yan Ke Feng (CHN)
5. Marc Andre Cratere (FRA)
6. Istvan Tarjanyi (HUN)
6. Panagiotis Triantafyllou (GRE)
8. Albert Kamalov (RUS)

15. Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
23. Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Category B Women’s Saber
1. Irma Khetsuriani (GEO)
2. Sophie Sablon (FRA)
3. Melissa Chandler (Salt Lake City, Utah)
3. Andrea De Mello (New York City, N.Y.)