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Velikaia Wins Gold, Zagunis Silver in Women’s Sabre

Sophia Velikaia (RUS) found herself down 11-6 to 2 time Gold Medalist Mariel Zagunis (USA).  She did not give up, however, but fought her way back to knot the match at 14-14 and then won the decisive point.  With that display, she demonstrated that she expects better than 4th at the 2012 Olympics.

Unlike the other weapons thus far all 4 top seeds made it to the final four.  This event was also unusual in that there were no Italians up for medals, though earlier in the day Italy claimed it’s 3rd gold of the World Championships.

The talk of the tournament was Vietnam’s Thi le Dung Nguyen and her race to the top-16.  She opened the day with a stunning upset of Aleksandra Socha (POL) 15-12 and went on to defeat Reka Benko (HUN) 15-13.  Her run would end in the 16 as Irene Vecchi (ITA) defeated her 15-3.  This is the top result for a Vietnamese fencer in world championships competition.

Olympic Sized Bouts

There were several bouts throughout the day that were important for Olympic qualification, but none as directly impactful as the quarter-final match between Ekaterina Diatchenko (RUS) and Julia Gavrilova (RUS).  Russia boasts 3 fencers in the top-10 in Olympic qualification points, but due to this year’s rules only 2 fencers from a county may compete in Women’s Sabre.  The win by Gavrilova in the top-8 put Diatchenko on the outs, trailing by 12 world cup points with half a season left in qualifying, a difficult position to be in for the world’s 6th ranked fencer.

The United States also boasts an overabundance of talent in the event, with 4 women ranked in the top-16.  Today, however, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Daria Schneider were unable to pull of wins in their opening round matches, leaving Dagmara Wozniak the opportunity to help herself along in the qualification process.  Wozniak earned victories over Margarita Tschomakova (BUL) and Dina Galiakbarova (RUS) to make the top-16.  She fell in her bid to make the 8 with a 15-10 loss to World #2 Olga Kharlan (UKR).

Final Results; Women’s Sabre 2011 World Championship

Rank Name Country
1 VELIKAIA Sophia RUS
2 ZAGUNIS Mariel USA
3 KHARLAN Olga UKR
3 GAVRILOVA Julia RUS
5 DIATCHENKO Ekaterina RUS
6 ZHU Min CHN
7 VECCHI Irene ITA
8 MIKINA Sabina AZE
9 BESBES Azza TUN
10 MARZOCCA Gioia ITA
11 JOZWIAK Bogna POL
12 WOZNIAK Dagmara USA
13 STOLTZ Marion FRA
14 VOUGIOUKA Vassiliki GRE
15 NAKAYAMA Seira JPN
16 NGUYEN Thi Le Dung VIE
17 KIM Ji Yeon KOR
18 GALIAKBAROVA Dina RUS
19 ALASGAROVA Aida AZE
20 PERRUS Leonore FRA
21 KUBISSA Stefanie GER
22 BENKO Reka HUN
23 LAKERBAI Karina BRA
24 KIM Keum Hwa KOR
25 PUNDYK Galyna UKR
26 LIU Shan CHN
27 LIMBACH Anna GER
28 ZHOVNIR Olga UKR
29 NAVARRO Araceli ESP
30 GUARNERI Paola ITA
31 MARCOS Sandra ESP
32 WIECKOWSKA Irena POL
33 KHOMROVA Olena UKR
34 SOCHA Aleksandra POL
35 MUHAMMAD Ibtihaj USA
36 SCHNEIDER Daria USA
37 CHEN Xiaodong CHN
38 HUTCHISON Joanna GBR
39 VERGNE Carole FRA
40 PAIZI Marina GRE
41 AU Sin Ying HKG
42 BENITEZ Alejandra VEN
43 ZHIVITSA Yuliya KAZ
44 BOND-WILLIAMS Louise GBR
45 GRENCH Eileen PAN
46 FELIX LARA Rossy DOM
47 PASCU Bianca Alexandra ROU
48 LEE Ra Jin KOR
49 FONG Yi Tak HKG
50 PAGE Gabriella CAN
51 KRAVCHUK Iryna Ayse TUR
52 PEREZ MAURICE Maria Belen ARG
53 TSCHOMAKOVA Margarita BUL
54 NICOLL Chrystall GBR
55 PALFFY Petra ISR
56 BUJDOSO Alexandra GER
57 CONTRERAS Patricia VEN
58 KISIALIOVA Volha BLR
59 WILLIAMS Sophie GBR
60 BUNYATOVA Sevil AZE
61 JOHANNSDOTTIR Gudrun ISL
62 KIM Seon Hee KOR
63 VILA Laia ESP
64 MUNTEANU Elena ROU

 

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