USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. Women’s Foil Team advanced to the medal rounds for the third time in as many World Cups this season on Sunday.

With Team USA’s returning Olympians home in the States during this tournament, the Algiers World Cup in Algeria would give an opportunity for the weapon’s Tokyo Olympic hopefuls to take center stage.

Reigning Junior World Champion and three-time Senior World Team member Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) anchored the team and was joined by three-time Junior World team medalist Jackie Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.), reigning Cadet World Champion Sylvie Binder (Armonk, N.Y.) and 2013 World University Games Team member Madison Zeiss (Culver City, Calif.)

Seeded third in the tournament, Massialas, Dubrovich and Zeiss took on Austria in the table of 16, winning or tying all but one of their nine bouts to take the match, 45-31.

The quarter-finals would pit the Americans against a Korean team led by two-time Olympic medalist Hyunhee Nam who, at age 35, won her 21st career World Cup individual medal on Saturday with a bronze.

Zeiss fenced Nam first and outlasted the Korean, scoring four touches in the final minute of the bout to take a 7-5 win and give the Americans a 9-5 lead. Zeiss’s bout set the tone for the match as Team USA went on to win or tie eight bouts and defeat Korea, 45-31.

In the semifinals against No. 1 Italy, Binder was subbed in for Dubrovich and Team USA took a 10-5 lead after wins by Massialas against 2014 Senior World medalist Martina Batini, 5-4, and Binder against individual bronze medalist Alice Volpi, 5-1. While Zeiss put up a 4-1 victory over Volpi in the sixth, the Italians overpowered Team USA in the final rotation to win the match, 45-36.

Team USA fenced France for bronze – a familiar rivalry for the Americans against the No. 4 team in the world who holds medals at the last four Senior World Championships.

Dubrovich opened for the Americans with a 5-4 win against Jeromine Mpah-Njanga and Massialas followed by defeating Pauline Ranvier, 5-1. France regrouped, however, and swept the remaining bouts for a 45-33 victory.

In the individual events, it was a pair of juniors that earned Team USA’s top finish as 2016 Cadet World Champion Sylvie Binder (Armonk, N.Y.) and 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.) each earned her first top-32 result at a Senior World Cup.

Deschner finished the pool rounds on Saturday with a 4-1 result to advance to the direct elimination rounds as the 32nd seed in the table of 64 which was held Saturday afternoon.

Deschner drew Xingxin Huo (CHN) in her first DE bout. Down, 7-4, after the first break, Deschner fought to tie the bout at nine within the first minute of the second period. Deschner outscored Huo, 9-1, to win the bout, 15-10.

In the table of 32, Deschner drew World No. 1 Arianna Errigo (ITA) who won the bout, 15-3.

Binder finished the pools at 3-3 and drew two-time Junior World team medalist Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.) in the preliminary table of 64. Partridge held a 13-10 lead in the third period, but Binder went on a 5-1 run to close the bout with a 15-14 victory.

In the table of 64, five-time African Championships medalist Anissa Khelfaoui (ALG) held an early lead, but, once Binder finished the first period at 5-3, she went on to grow her lead to 12-8 in the second and a 15-11 victory in the third.

Binder fenced Italian Valentina De Costanzo in the table of 32. Although the American kept the bout within three touches at 8-5, De Costanzo went on to finish with a 15-8 victory.  

The results for both Deschner and Binder not only earned them points on the Senior National Team Point Standings, but they also made a notable impact on the junior standings that will be used to select the 2017 Junior World Championship Team.

With the deadline for team selection just weeks away and the top four athletes qualifying for the individual event, Deschner climbed from No. 9 to No. 4 in the standings.

Binder solidified her position as No. 3 behind Massialas and two-time Junior World team silver medalist Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Three members of Team USA earned top-64 results with Massialas placing 34th as Zeiss and Dubrovich finished 40th and 63rd, respectively.

Massialas was exempt from pools as the event’s 15th seed, but lost to 2016 Junior World Team Champion Camilla Rivano (ITA), 15-13, in the table of 64.

After a 5-1 finish in pools, Zeiss advanced directly to the table of 64 where she dropped her bout to Chloe Jubenot (FRA), 15-7.

Although Dubrovich narrowly made it out of pools with a 2-4 finish, she went on to defeat Hyunjin Kim (KOR), 15-9, in the preliminary table of 64. The losses in pools meant she would draw the 63rd seed in the table of 64 and an early matchup against 2016 Olympic Champion Inna Deriglazova. Dubrovich fenced well against her opponent, but lost the bout, 15-9, against the two-time Olympic medalist.

Click here to view complete individual results.

Click here to view complete team results.

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

Algiers Team Women’s Foil World Cup
1. Italy
2. Russia
3. France
4. USA
5. Poland
6. Hungary
7. Korea
8. Japan

Algiers Individual Women’s Foil World Cup
1. Ysaora Thibus (FRA)
2. Hyunhee Nam (KOR)
3. Arianna Errigo (ITA)
3. Alice Volpi (ITA)
5. Inna Deriglazova (RUS)
6. Hee Sook Jeon (KOR)
7. Julia Walczyk (POL)
8. Valentina De Costanzo (ITA)

25. Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.)
32. Sylvie Binder (Armonk, N.Y.)
34. Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
40. Madison Zeiss (Culver City, Calif.)
63. Jackie Dubrovich (Riverdale, N.J.)
67. Quinn Crum (Providence, R.I.)
76. Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)
77. Natalie Minarik (Glen Oaks, N.Y.)