8 US fencers advance in World Championships

All 8 US Fencers Advance to the Top-64 on the First Day of the 2009 Fencing World Championships

The 2009 Fencing World Championships began on Wednesday in Antalya, Turkey, with preliminary-round matches in the women’s sabre and men’s foil divisions.

Four of the US fencers had byes directly to Saturday’s round of 64 and the other four fencers competed in preliminary pools and qualified for Saturday’s DE matchups.

The format for the 2009 World Championships is slightly different than years past. Here’s the breakdown:

• Top 16 fencers in the FIE world rankings automatically qualify for the DE of 64.
• The top 16 fencers out of pools qualify directly to the final day’s DE of 64
• The bottom 20% of fencers out of pools are eliminated
• The remaining fencers compete in a preliminary DE table until 32 remain to fill out the DE table of 64

The final day of competition is run as a single-elimination DE table.

In women’s sabre Mariel Zagunis and Monica Aksamit had byes to Saturday’s direct elimination rounds. Daria Schneider and Dagmara Wozniak qualified directly out of pools. Each went 3-2 in pools to advance to the final of 64.

Unfortunately, the US women find themselves all in the same section of the bracket, so only one US woman has a chance to make the top-8. Aksamit and Wozniak fence in the round of 64 with the potential for the winner of that match to face Schneider on the 32.

In men’s foil Kurt Getz and Gerek Meinhardt had byes. Miles Chamley-Watson (4-2) and Alex Massialas (4-1) each qualified directly from pools.

The fencer to watch in men’s foil is Andrea Baldini (ITA). Baldini was excluded from the 2008 Olympics due to a positive drug test, but he has been reinstated and has won several tournaments this year. He comes into worlds with the #6 seed and a great deal of momentum. Kurt Getz has the chance to match up with Baldini should they both make the top 16.

UniversalSports.com will broadcast Saturday’s finals live – the first of six such days – beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The competition continues on Thursday with the preliminaries of women’s foil and men’s epee.

Next - The Table of 64 for Women’s Sabre and Men’s Foil:

Women’s Sabre - Table of 64

1	ZAGUNIS Mariel	USA
	9:00 bleue
64	KIM Hye Lim	KOR
			10:00 bleue
33	KEDZIORA Katarzyna	POL
	9:15 bleue
32	BUNYATOVA Sevil	AZE
				11:00 bleue
17	SOCHA Aleksandra	POL
	9:30 bleue
48	SCHNEIDER Daria	USA
			10:15 bleue
49	WOZNIAK Dagmara	USA
	9:45 bleue
16	AKSAMIT Monica	USA
9	KHOMROVA Olena	UKR
	9:00 rouge
56	MIKINA Sabina	AZE
			10:30 bleue
41	SASSINE Sandra	CAN
	9:15 rouge
24	GAVRILOVA Julia	RUS
				11:15 bleue
25	LIMBACH Anna	GER
	9:30 rouge
40	AU YEUNG Wai Sum	HKG
			10:45 bleue
57	OVTCHINNIKOVA Olga	CAN
	9:45 rouge
8	BESBES Azza	TUN
5	PERRUS Leonore	FRA
	9:00 verte
60	PEREZ MAURICE Maria Belen	ARG
			10:00 rouge
37	STAGNI Livia	ITA
	9:15 verte
28	MARCOS Sandra	ESP
				11:00 rouge
21	PELEI Andreea	ROU
	9:30 verte
44	KUMAGAI Mika	JPN
			10:15 rouge
53	BEN CHAABANE Amira	TUN
	9:45 verte
12	VERGNE Carole	FRA
13	BAO Yingying	CHN
	9:00 jaune
52	KUBISSA Stefanie	GER
			10:30 rouge
45	BERDER Cecilia	FRA
	9:15 jaune
20	HUTCHISON Joanna	GBR
				11:15 rouge
29	CHEN Xiaodong	CHN
	9:30 jaune
36	FATHALLI Chaima	TUN
			10:45 rouge
61	ASLAN Ozdem	TUR
	9:45 jaune
4	DIATCHENKO Ekaterina	RUS
3	VELIKAIA Sophia	RUS
	9:00 piste 1
62	SASCHENBRECKER Wendy	CAN
			10:00 verte
35	JANG Hyun Kyung	KOR
	9:15 piste 1
30	MARZOCCA Gioia	ITA
				11:00 verte
19	KLEMM Sibylle	GER
	9:30 piste 1
46	BUJDOSO Alexandra	GER
			10:15 verte
51	NAKAYAMA Seira	JPN
	9:45 piste 1
14	MARY Solenne	FRA
11	NAGY Orsolya	HUN
	9:00 piste 2
54	AU Sin Ying	HKG
			10:30 verte
43	HAMADA Maho	JPN
	9:15 piste 2
22	ZHOVNIR Olga	UKR
				11:15 verte
27	NI Hong	CHN
	9:30 piste 2
38	KIM Keum Hwa	KOR
			10:45 verte
59	PETO Reka	HUN
	9:45 piste 2
6	BIANCO Ilaria	ITA
7	VECCHI Irene	ITA
	9:00 piste 3
58	LAM Hin Wai	HKG
			10:00 jaune
39	LI Fei	CHN
	9:15 piste 3
26	VOUGIOUKA Vassiliki	GRE
				11:00 jaune
23	WIECKOWSKA Irena	POL
	9:30 piste 3
42	JUNG Eun Hee	KOR
			10:15 jaune
55	BEKTURGANOVA Aliya	KAZ
	9:45 piste 3
10	JOZWIAK Bogna	POL
15	KORMILITSYNA Svetlana	RUS
	9:00 piste 4
50	PUNDYK Galyna	UKR
			10:30 jaune
47	BENKO Reka	HUN
	9:15 piste 4
18	GRENCH Eileen	PAN
				11:15 jaune
31	NICOLL Chrystall	GBR
	9:30 piste 4
34	KEMPE Katherine	GBR
			10:45 jaune
63	MUNTEANU Elena	ROU
	9:45 piste 4
2	KHARLAN Olga	UKR

Men’s Foil - Table of 64

1	JOPPICH Peter	GER
	12:00 bleue
64	JORGENSEN Philippe	DEN
33	MENENDEZ Javier	ESP
	12:25 bleue
32	STOUKALINE Alexandre	RUS
17	KENBER Jamie	GBR
	12:50 bleue
48	LEI Sheng	CHN
49	LAU Kwok Kin	HKG
	13:15 bleue
16	SCHLOSSER Roland	AUT
9	JOUBERT Terence	FRA
	12:00 rouge
56	HINTERSEER Moritz	AUT
41	GATAI Robert	HUN
	12:25 rouge
24	HERTSYK Rostislav	UKR
25	VANNI Simone	ITA
	12:50 rouge
40	WESSELS Andre	GER
57	YUNES Klod	UKR
	13:15 rouge
8	GLONEK Radoslaw	POL
5	LE PECHOUX Erwan	FRA
	12:00 verte
60	CHEUNG Siu Lun	HKG
37	BARRERA Stefano	ITA
	12:25 verte
28	HATOEL Maor	ISR
21	CIEPLY Tomasz	POL
	12:50 verte
44	CHAMLEY-WATSON Miles	USA
53	JOVANOVIC Bojan	CRO
	13:15 verte
12	ZHU Jun	CHN
13	GETZ Kurt	USA
	12:00 jaune
52	BORST Sebastiaan	NED
45	HA Chang Duk	KOR
	12:25 jaune
20	PANCHAN Nontapat	THA
29	NGAN Kwoon Yat	HKG
	12:50 jaune
36	KHOVANSKY Alexey	RUS
61	OR HTUEL Yaaqov	ISR
	13:15 jaune
4	KRUSE Richard	GBR
3	CASSARA Andrea	ITA
	12:00 piste 1
62	BACHMANN Sebastian	GER
35	PRANZ Renee	AUT
	12:25 piste 1
30	BERJOZKIN Anton	HUN
19	HALSTED Laurence	GBR
	12:50 piste 1
46	HEDENSKOG Filip	SWE
51	NISSIM Filippos	GRE
	13:15 piste 1
14	HUANG Liangcai	CHN
11	MEINHARDT Gerek	USA
	12:00 piste 2
54	KOENIG Gregory	FRA
43	PRYMACK Anthony	CAN
	12:25 piste 2
22	SALISCAN Virgil	ROU
27	FUKUDA Yusuke	JPN
	12:50 piste 2
38	KWON Young Ho	KOR
59	MENENDEZ Gabriel	ESP
	13:15 piste 2
6	BALDINI Andrea	ITA
7	KLEIBRINK Benjamin	GER
	12:00 piste 3
58	PAGHIEV Boris	MDA
39	MASSIALAS Alexander	USA
	12:25 piste 3
26	POGREBNYAK Andriy	UKR
23	CAPLLIURE Luis	ESP
	12:50 piste 3
42	SHI Jialuo	CHN
55	SANTOS Gael	POR
	13:15 piste 3
10	GUYART Brice	FRA
15	GANEEV Renal	RUS
	12:00 piste 4
50	RODRIGUEZ Ignacio	ESP
47	OR Tomer	ISR
	12:25 piste 4
18	SEDOV Artem	RUS
31	BASSAL Oren	ISR
	12:50 piste 4
34	EL SAYED Alaa El Din	EGY
63	BABAOGLU Tevfik Burak	TUR
	13:15 piste 4
2	OTA Yuki	JPN