Courtney Hurley takes 6th at Nankin Grand Prix

Courtney Hurley led the US contingent and placed 6th.  She upset world #1 Magdalena Piekarska (POL) in the round of 16 to make her first top-8 Grand Prix finish since 2008.

Her finish puts her at 23rd in the FIE world rankings.  Courtney’s sister Kelley Hurley is currently 20th.

Courtney Hurley went strong in pools to qualify for the top-64 with the 18th seed.  She started her campaign by defeating Young Mi Kang (KOR) 15-12.  She then defeated 15th seed Nathalie Moellhausen (ITA) 15-12.  In the top-16 Hurley faced top ranked Magdalena Piekarska (POL) but had no trouble, defeating the world #1 by a score of 15-8.

In the quarter-finals Courtney faced #8 Bianca Del Carretto (ITA) and lost 15-10, placing 6th.

Del Carretto would lose in the semi-finals to Yana Shemyakina (UKR) 15-12.  Shemyakina went on to defeat Anna Sivkova (RUS) 15-9 in the finals.

The other US fencers to make the 2nd day of competition all lost in the round of 64.  Kelley Hurley, seeded 19th, lost in the 64 to Mingfang Yin (CHN) 15-10.  Susannah Scanlan, seeded 76th, lost her top-64 match to #3 seed Yana Shemyakina (UKR) 15-13.  Lindsay Campbell, seeded 43rd, lost her round of 64 match to Francesca Quondamcarlo (ITA) 15-13.  Maya Lawrence finished pools as the 95th seed, but battled her way through the preliminary DE tables to make the top-64.  She lost her round of 64 match to Maureen Nisima (FRA) 15-12.

The next team event will be June 26th in Sydney, Australia.  The US is currently 13th with Canada in 14th.  The top team from the Americas will qualify for the London Olympics.

Results: Nankin Women’s Epee Grand Prix – Top 8 + US Placements