Alex Massialas 3rd in Seoul – Baldini wins.

Alexander Massialas (USA) took 3rd place at the 2011 SK Trophée Séoul Men’s Foil World Cup.  Massialas lost to eventual champion Andrea Baldini (ITA).  In the finals Baldini defeated Richard Kruse (GBR) 15-14.  In their semi-final matches Kruse beat Artem Sedov (RUS) 15-5 and Baldini won 15-6 over Massialas.

On the way to his podium finish Massialas defeated three time world champion Peter Joppich (GER) 15-9.  He had a close call in the top-32 against Valerio Aspromonte (ITA).  Massialas was down 11-6 to start the 3rd period but brought the match back to win 15-14.

“This is his first major podium finish in a Senior Men’s Foil World Cup,” said Greg Massialas, “(Alex) was also the youngest to make the podium in this event over the many years of this World Cup.”

Miles Chamley-Watson placed 10th with victories against Dmitri Riginie (RUS) 15-10 and a close bout with Lorenzo Nista (ITA) 15-14.  Chamley-Watson lost to Laurence Halsted (GBR) 15-11 in the top-16.

The other US fencers all lost their matches in the round of 64.

Artem Sedov (RUS) made several notable upsets at the event with his top-32 victory over Andrea Cassara (ITA) 15-10.  Yuki Ota (JPN) also failed to make the 8 after losing 15-13 to Liangliang Zhang (CHN) in the round of 16, and #1 seed Sheng Lei (CHN) lost to teammate Liangcai Huang (CHN) 15-12 in the 16.

The top 8 featured two Chinese fencers, two British fencers and representatives from Korea, the United States, Italy, and Russia.  This type of multi-region final has been the type of global participation that the FIE has strived for since the early 90s.

The men’s foilists stay in Seoul for the team event tomorrow.  The US is seeded 7th.

SK Trophy Seoul: Final Results (Top 8 plus US Fencers)  [Top-64 DE Bracket]