Men’s Foil Individual after the Challenge International de Paris World Cup:
Most of the qualification places for Rio will be decided through the team rankings, but those team rankings also have a major impact on which individuals will qualify. (We’ll discuss the team events below.)
Yuki OTA (JPN) leads the board and will be the only Japanese fencer in Men’s Foil unless their team can perform miracles in Bonn. Given GERMANY’s team struggles, the individual silver medal won by Peter JOPPICH (GER) has effectively secured his place in Rio.
There are no changes in the African zone, Ayoub FERJANI (TUN) has it all to himself while Roman DJITLI (ALG) recovers from injury.
CANADA’s entry into the qualification has thrown the door right open on the Pan-American zone. If it stays the same (which it will), one of three Brazilians will take the first place, but to find the second Pan-Am fencer we have to go all the way down to 86th – Daniel GOMEZ (MEX) on 14 points. There are 6 other Pan-Am fencers trailing close behind on 12 points, mostly from their zonal championships. Who knows where this one will end up.
Next stop is Bonn in 3 weeks time where we’ll have the conclusion of the team qualification and much more clarity on the individual paths available.
Men’s Team Foil Update – Team USA Leading the Pack
Consecutive team wins by the USA have catapulted them to the top of the rankings. This has the immediate knock on effect of pushing CANADA into the team qualification places. BRAZIL will need to make at least the 16 in Bonn to challenge. (ED Note: Brazil as host nation would be able to enter a team if they choose.)
Otherwise, the biggest story of the Challenge International de Paris was the criticial victory by GREAT BRITAIN over GERMANY in the last 16. GBR went on to win the bronze medal and put them in a commanding position for qualification.
Given GREAT BRITAIN’s 19 point lead over GERMANY, and that GERMANY will need to improve on their 4th highest result – 25 points – this means GERMANY will need to finish 2nd or higher in Bonn to overtake GREAT BRITAIN.
This assumes GBR don’t improve from their 4th place -19 points – if GERMANY finish 2nd in Bonn, GREAT BRITAIN will qualify finishing 7th. If GERMANY win in Bonn, GREAT BRITAIN will need to finish 3rd to qualify.
All of this assumes that CHINA will not qualify in 4th. This looks unlikely, CHINA will have to finish at least 2nd to advance above RUSSIA.
Team standings after the Challenge International de Paris Team World Cup:
