Dagmara Wozniak 2nd in Gand

3 US fencers make the top-8. Dagmara Wozniak led all US fencers with a 2nd place finish at the Challenge Yes Brasseur women’s sabre world cup in Gand, Belgium. In the final bout Irene Vecchi (ITA) defeated Wozniak 15-12. The bout was close, with ties at 3-3 all the way to 6-6. At 11-11 Vecci put together a 3-0 run to go up 14-11 and won 15-12. Vecci also defeated Daria Schneider 15-8 in the semi-finals. Schneider shared 3rd place with Olena Khomrova (UKR). Khomrova lost in the semi-finals to Wozniak 15-13. Also making the top-8 was Ibtihaj Muhammad. Muhammad started the day as the 12th seed and won a close match to Iryna Kravchuk (UKR) 15-14. She then advanced through the table with victories over Mary Solenne (FRA) 15-11 and Katarzyna Kedziora (POL) 15-13. In the top-8 Muhammad faced Vecchi and lost the bout 15-13. Mariel Zagunis entered as the #1 seed and defeated Sabina Mikina (AZE) 15-11 and then lost her top-32 bout to Vassiliki Vougiouka (GRE) 15-6. Zagunis took 17th. Along the way to her top-4 finish, Daria Schneider started the day upsetting the #8 seed Ilaria Bianco (ITA) 15-10. She then defeated Aleksandra Socha (POL) to make the top-8 where she avenged the Zagunis loss by eliminating Vougiouka. Dagmara Wozniak also strung together some good early wins with a 15-8 victory over 2010 World Champion Silver Medalist Olga Kharlan (UKR). The women will compete again tomorrow in the team event. Final Results - Top 8 Gand Women’s Sabre World Cup