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Olympic Preview: Men’s Individual Sabre

20 years ago, the United States won it’s last fencing medal in this very event.  Olympian Peter Westbrook won the bronze medal in Los Angeles in 1984 and has since started the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York to help improve lives through fencing.  This year two of his pupils – Ivan Lee and Keeth Smart – are looking to end the medal drought.



{mosimage}
Charikov (R) makes an attack at the NYC World Cup.  Photo courtesy Serge Timacheff/FencingPhotos.com


Edit: Updated 8/12/04 at 1:40PM EDT with first round draws.


Their path to the medal rounds will be difficult, however.  In 2003, Keeth Smart became the first US fencer to claim a #1 world ranking.  Since then he has slipped and is currently ranked 25th.  Teammate Ivan Lee put together a strong season, including a bronze medal at the NYC World Cup, to move up to a #19 world ranking.


The US fencers will have to find ways to solve the games of gold medal winner Stanisalv Pozdniakov of Russia and the reigning world champion Vladimir Lukashenko of the Ukraine.


Pozdniakov is the favorite to win the gold medal, winning 3 world cup events this year and peaking at the end of the season by winning the last 2 events he has entered.  Lukashenko’s victories were towards the beginning of the season and while he is still a contender, he has cooled off.


Men’s Sabre runs deep – with fencers down to the #18 world rank putting together a win, so upsets are possible, but only Pozdniakov and Lukashenko have more than one win this season – which sets them up to be the favorites.


Competitors at the 2004 Olympic Men’s Sabre Event:


























































































































































































































































Initial Seed Name First name Country World Rank
1 LUKASHENKO Vladimir UKR 1
2 POZDNIAKOV Stanislav RUS 2
3 COVALIU Mihai ROM 3
4 CHARIKOV Serguei RUS 4
5 NEMCSIK Zsolt HUN 5
6 MONTANO Aldo ITA 6
7 TARANTINO Luigi ITA 7
8 LAPKES Dmitri BLR 8
9 DIATCHENKO Alexei RUS 9
10 LENGYEL Balazs HUN 10
11 FERJANCSIK Domonkos HUN 11
12 TOUYA Gael FRA 12
13 PILLET Julien FRA 13
14 TOUYA Damien FRA 14
15 MEDINA Fernando ESP 16
16 LEE Ivan USA 19
17 KOTHNY Wiradech THA 20
18 PASTORE Gianpiero ITA 22
19 SZNAJDER Rafal POL 23
20 OH Eun Seok KOR 24
21 SMART Keeth USA 25
22 BOULOS Michel CAN 26
23 TRETIAK Vladislav UKR 27
24 KALUJNY Vladimir UKR 29
25 ROGERS Jason USA 30
26 CHEN Feng CHN 45
27 HUANG Yaojiang CHN 46
28 MANETAS Constantine GRE 47
29 AMAYA CAMEJO Alberto CUB 56
30 ZHOU Hanming CHN 62
31 NAGARA Masashi JPN 65
32 REBAI Mohamed TUN 68
33 BASMATZIAN Marios GRE 76
34 AGRESTA Renzo BRA 110
35 DOURAKOS Jason GRE 127
36 BENCHEHIMA Reda ALG NR
37 BERNAOUI Nassim ALG NR
38 BERNAOUI Raoul ALG NR
39 KEMBE Sorel-Arthur CGO NR

In the round of 32, all of the US fencers look to pull matches where they will be challenged, but they have had success against these fencers before.  In the round of 16, Ivan Lee looks to match up against Pozdniakov.  If he makes it through that match, the way to a medal looks clear. 


Keeth Smart has finished in the top eight in the world consistently over the past season.  Though Europeans have dominated the sport throughout history, the world is on Smart-Watch as Keeth now threatens the Russian domination of Men’s Saber.


Other potential medalists include Mihai Covaliu or Romania and Sergei Charikov of Russia.  Both of these fencers are strong competitors and have significant wins to their credit.


In the end, it will come down to speed and precision.  Sabre is the fastest weapon with the smallest tolerance for mistakes.  The fencer that shows up feeling “on” will win the day.


{mosimage} Medal Picks:
Gold:
Stanislav Pozdniakov (RUS)
Silver: Zsolt Nemcsik (HUN)
Bronze: Keeth Smart (USA)







 


Initial Bracket for the 2004 Olympic Men’s Sabre Event:



































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































1 LUKASHENKO Vladimir UKR
LUKASHENKO Vladimir
64
33 AGRESTA Renzo BRA
32 REBAI Mohamed TUN
17 KOTHNY Wiradech THA
KOTHNY Wiradech
48
49
MEDINA Fernando
16 MEDINA Fernando ESP
9 LENGYEL Balazs HUN
LENGYEL Balazs
56
41
TRETIAK Vladislav
24 TRETIAK Vladislav UKR
25 ROGERS Jason USA
ROGERS Jason
40
57
TARANTINO Luigi
8 TARANTINO Luigi ITA
5 NEMCSIK Zsolt HUN
NEMCSIK Zsolt
60
37 BERNAOUI Nassim ALG
28 HUANG Yaojiang CHN
21 BOULOS Michel CAN
BOULOS Michel
44
53
FERJANCSIK Domonkos
12 FERJANCSIK Domonkos HUN
13 TOUYA Damien FRA
TOUYA Damien
52
45
SZNAJDER Rafal
20 SZNAJDER Rafal POL
29 ZHOU Hanming CHN
36 DOURAKOS Jason GRE
61
COVALIU Mihai
4 COVALIU Mihai ROM
3 CHARIKOV Serguei RUS
CHARIKOV Serguei
62
35 KEMBE Sorel-Arthur CGO
30 AMAYA CAMEJO Alberto CUB
19 OH Eun Seok KOR
OH Eun Seok
46
51
PILLET Julien
14 PILLET Julien FRA
11 TOUYA Gael FRA
TOUYA Gael
54
43
SMART Keeth
22 SMART Keeth USA
27 MANETAS Constantine GRE
38 BERNAOUI Raouf Salim ALG
59
MONTANO Aldo
6 MONTANO Aldo ITA
7 LAPKES Dmitri BLR
LAPKES Dmitri
58
39 BENCHEHIMA Reda ALG
26 CHEN Feng CHN
23 KALUJNY Vladimir UKR
KALUJNY Vladimir
42
55
DIATCHENKO Alexei
10 DIATCHENKO Alexei RUS
15 LEE Ivan USA
LEE Ivan
50
47
PASTORE Gianpiero
18 PASTORE Gianpiero ITA
31 NAGARA Masashi JPN
34 BASMATZIAN Marios GRE
63
POZDNIAKOV Stanislav
2 POZDNIAKOV Stanislav RUS

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