New York Fencing Academy athlete, Romain Cannone, 16, became the number one cadet French fencer as he took Bronze in the prestigious European Cadet Circuit, commonly called the Cadet World Cup, this past weekend in Chalons, France.
This all stems from the enthusiasm he revealed in trying to qualify to fence for the French Cadet Team just two weeks ago. He managed to attain one of the four spots against 288 fencers, earning the opportunity to represent France.
A week later, he competed in his first circuit event in Bonn,Germany, earning 9th place. He then went on to Chalons, France to compete against more than 171 fencers from 15 countries. The start wasn’t smooth for him as he was feeling tired and under pressure with his whole family watching and cheering him on, but he managed to win 4 out of 6 bouts in the first round of pools.
Romain persevered through the direct elimination round and as he advanced to top 32, he fenced the 22 seeded French fencer, leaving nothing to chance and winning by 15-5 in a span of 3 minutes. Romain then faced German fencer, Broun Rico, who won the previous World Cup in Bonn. Romain noted how strong this fencer was, and along with his coach, Misha Mokretsov, came up with a strategy to win the highly contested bout 15-11. Romain then beat Italian fencer, Pierfrancesco Andresini with ease, proceeding to the top 8 bout in which he had great ambition to go beyond. Following a tight challenge against a German fencer as he lost 15-13, he still had a chance to advance as one has to lose twice to be eliminated. After analyzing his mistakes, Romain again fenced the German and this time he made no mistakes, winning 15-10. Fencing for top 2, Romain lost to Justin Yoo, the number one ranked American cadet, by 15-13, as Yoo went on to win the competition.
Romain took Bronze in the individual event and the following day, fenced with his teammates to earn Silver for France in the team event. This was indeed a remarkable event for Romain Cannone and for his coach, Misha Mokretsov, who has been training him since he began fencing in 2008.
Submitted by NYFA – New York Fencing Academy is located in Brooklyn, New York, and provides group and private fencing instruction.