FOCONI, KIEFER STRIKE GOLD AT THE TURIN GRAND PRIX
TURIN, Italy – Alessio FOCONI (ITA) and Lee KIEFER (USA) grabbed the gold medals at the first Fencing Grand Prix of the season in Turin, Italy, this weekend.
FOCONI claimed his maiden Grand Prix win with a surprise victory over the world No. 1 Alexander MASSIALAS (USA) by a score of 15-7.
“I wanted to win because I’ve never won a Grand Prix,” said the 27-year-old foilist, who moves up nine places to No. 10 in the world rankings. “My best result was a second place in Cairo. … So I’m very happy.”
FOCONI dedicated his gold medal, which came courtesy of his first win over the American star, to the victims of the recent earthquake in Umbria.
The bronze medals went to semifinalists KIM Hyogon (KOR) and Enzo LEFORT (FRA), who had ended the challenge of Olympic champion Daniele GAROZZO (ITA) in the table of 16.
On the women’s side, KIEFER also recorded her first career Grand Prix victory after finishing runner-up to world No. 1 Arianna ERRIGO (ITA) twice last season.
Ranked second in the world, KIEFER defeated her compatriot Nicole ROSS (USA) in the gold medal match by a score of 15-8.
“I feel very excited, very surprised, because Nicole, Arianna, and Volpi are all amazing competitors,” said the 22-year-old Kiefer.
“It’s just amazing to be on the podium with them.”
KIEFER beat ERRIGO in the semifinals by a score of 15-11 to leave the local favourite with the bronze medal.
The other bronze medal went to ERRIGO’s compatriot Alice VOLPI (ITA), who lost to ROSS by the same score.
Turin was playing host to the first of nine Fencing Grands Prix, signalling the start of the FIE’s flagship regular season competition.
The FGP Series features three Grand Prix in each of the three weapons – foil, epee and sabre – and visits nine iconic cities around the world.
The series next calls in upon Qatar, where the world’s top epeeists will contest the Doha Grand Prix on December 9-11.（ＦＩＥ）
・男子フルーレトリノＧＰ 参加１５３名
1 FOCONI Alessio ITA
2 MASSIALAS Alexander USA
3 KIM Hyogon KOR
3 LEFORT Enzo FRA
・女子フルーレトリノＧＰ 参加１２５名
1 KIEFER Lee USA
2 ROSS Nicole USA
3 ERRIGO Arianna ITA
3 VOLPI Alice ITA
SOUTH KOREA’S SANGUK OH TAKES MAIDEN TITLE IN GYŐR
LAUSANNE (December 5) – Sanguk Oh claimed the first gold medal of his career over the weekend with victory in an all-Korean final at the sabre World Cup event in Győr, Hungary.
The 20-year-old right-hander beat four-time Asian champion Bongil Gu 15-13 in a closely fought gold medal match, improving upon his previous best performance of a bronze medal in Padua last year.
The bronze medals were shared by semifinalists Andras Szatmari of Hungary and Bolade Apithy of France.
Apithy had ousted home favourite Aron Szilagyi, the world No. 2 and Rio Olympic champion, in the quarterfinals.
Szatmari, meanwhile, had taken the scalp of the world No. 1, South Korea’s Junghwan Kim, in the table of 32.
Full results are available here.
In the team event, Italy emerged victorious in the gold medal match, beating South Korea 45-40. The bronze medal went to Russia, which edged France 45-44.
The next sabre event on the FIE calendar is the Fencing Grand Prix in Cancun, Mexico, on December 16-18. （ＦＩＥ）
・サーブル男子Ｗ杯個人戦 参加１８３名
1 OH Sanguk KOR
2 GU Bongil KOR
3 APITHY Bolade FRA
3 SZATMARI Andras HUN
