For the first day of competition since the 2004 Junior & Cadet World Championships began, no U.S. Juniors reached the quarterfinals. This was also the last day of individual competition at the Championships, which run from April 1-8 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
In the Junior Women’s Foil event, Emily Cross (17, New York, N.Y.) missed the quarterfinals by three touches, losing to Julia Birioukova 15-12. Cassidy Luitjen (19 San Antonio, Texas) lost her first bout, in the round of 64, to Polish fencer Katarzyna Kryczalo 15-12. Jacqueline Leahy (19, Aurora, Colo.) also lost her bout in the 64, to Chie Yoshizawa of Japan, 15-14.
The U.S.’s William Verigan (19, Wyckoff, N.J.), the 16th seed after the preliminary pool, was eliminated in the round of 32 by Ahmed Nabil of Egypt 15-9. The other two U.S. juniors in the competition, Nicholas Chinman (15, Boulder, Colo.) and Benjamin Bratton (18, Richmond Hill, N.Y.) met similar fates. Chinman faced Ales Chaloupka of Czechoslovakia and lost his bout in the table of 64, 15-12. Bratton lost his bout in the same round to Gauthier Grumier of France by the score of 15-8.
Tomorrow begins the team competition, with three events: Women’s Sabre Team, Men’s Épée Team, and Men’s Foil Team.
Junior Women’s Foil
April 6, 2004
82 competitors
1 UJLAKY Virginie FRA
2 TEO Serena ITA
3 BIRIOUKOVA Julia RUS
3 GEBET Gaelle FRA
5 DURANDO Benedetta ITA
6 CHANAEVA Aida RUS
7 JUN Hee Sok KOR
8 POGGI Audrey FRA
11 CROSS Emily (17, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club)
35 LEAHY Jacqueline (19, Aurora, Colo./Fencers Club/Princeton)
37 LUITJEN Cassidy (19, San Antonio, Texas/Fencers Club/Columbia ’07)
Junior Men’s Épée
April 6, 2004
129 competitors
1 SOKOLOV Oleg UKR
2 TUO Tong CHN
3 MORGOEV Vseslav RUS
3 UFFICIALI Andrea ITA
5 SICOT Bastien FRA
6 MIKOLAJCZAK Krzysztof POL
7 POP Adrian ROM
8 BACKER Fredrik NOR
20 VERIGAN William-Richard (19, Wyckoff, N.J./N.Y.A.C./Columbia ’06)
37 CHINMAN Nicholas (15, Boulder, Colo./Northern Colo. Fencers)
56 BRATTON Benjamin (18, Richmond Hill, N.Y./Westbrook Foundation/St. Johns ’07)
For more information, please contact Cindy Bent Findlay, USFA Media Contact, email: usfencingmedia@earthlink.net.