{mosimage} US Olympian Jon Tiompkin defeated one Italian before being knocked out by his teammate en route to a 3rd place finish at the Shanghai Grand Prix of Men’s Foil. Tiomkin defeated world #23 Andrea Baldini in the final minute of overtime 15-14 in their quarterfinal match. Tiomkin then lost to world #3 Simone Vanni 15-9 in the final 4.
Vanni went on to take first place, defeating his teammate and current #1 ranked Salvatore Sanzo 15-13.
The bouts in the Grand Prix event were much better than the three "protest" bouts at the Korea World Cup where the semifinal and final matches were all fenced to 1-0.
In the past week letters were sent from both the German and Italian fencing federations to FIE president Rene Roch pointing out flaws in the timings that are being tested during the Junior and Senior World Cup events this season.
Mr. Roch reportedly informed Italian delegation head Stefano Cerioni that he was willing to reconsider the new foil lockout and point debounce timings based on the recommendations within the letter from Italian fencing president Giorgio Scarso.
In the women’s tournament, none of the usual subjects (Vezzali, Trillini, Mohammed, Gruchala) were present and the event was won by Japanese fencer Chieko Sugawara.
Final Results – Shanghai Grand Prix
Mens Individual Grand Prix (Saturday)
1. Simone Vanni (ITA)
2. Salvatore Sanzo (ITA)
3. Jonathan Tiomkin (USA)
3. Ralf Bissdorf (GER)
5. WU Hanxiong (CHN)
6. Andrea Baldini (ITA)
7. BAO Xiaoqing (CHN)
8. Viatcheslav Pozdniakov (RUS)
Final Match: Simone Vanni (ITA) – Salvatore Sanzo (ITA) 15:13
Semi-Final: Simone Vanni (ITA) – Jonathan Tiomkin (USA) 15:9, Salvatore Sanzo (ITA) – Ralf Bissdorf (GER) 15:8
Quarterfinals: Jonathan Tiomkin (USA) – Andrea Baldini (ITA) 15:14, Simone Vanni (ITA) – BAO Xiaoqing (CHN) 15:13, Ralf Bissdorf (GER) – Viatcheslav Pozdniakov (RUS) 15:5, Salvatore Sanzo (ITA) – WU Hanxiong (CHN) 15:7
Mens Foil Team World Cup (Sunday)
1. Germany, 2. China, 3. Russia, 4. Poland, 5. France, 6. Italy, 7. Japan, 8. Korea, 9. Great Britain, 10. USA, 11. Belgium, 12. Austria, 13. Canada, 14. Spain, 15. Hongkong
Gold Medal Match: Germany – China 45:34
Bronze Medal Match: Russia – Poland 26:18
Semi Finals: China – Poland 24:20, Germany – Russia 39:34
Quarterfinals: Poland – Italy 22:18, China – Japan 45:29, Russia – France 45:30, Germany, Korea 45:26
Womens Foil Individual World Cup (Sunday)
1. Chieko Sugawara (JPN)
2. Ilaria Salvatori (ITA)
3. Edina Knapek (HUN)
3, Indra Angad-Gaur (NED)
5. ZHANG Lei (CHN)
6. Eli Di Francisca (ITA)
7. LIU Yuan (CHN)
8. Christina Stahl (ROM)
Final Match: Chieko Sugawara (JPN) – Ilaria Salvatori (ITA) 15:6 Semi Finals: Ilaria Salvatori (ITA) – Edina Knapek (HUN) 15:10, Chieko Sugawara (JPN) – Indra Angad Gaur (NED) 14:8
Quarterfinals: Ilaria Salvatori (ITA) – ZHANG Lei (CHN) 15:7, Edina Knapek
(HUN) – Christina Stahl (ROM) 15:6, Chieko Sugawara (JPN) – LIU Yuan (CHN) 15:14, Indra Angad Gaur (NED) – Eli Di Francesca (ITA) 15:3