Mariel Zagunis won a bronze medal in Foshan, China on Saturday, the only American to reach the semifinals between the three Fencing World Cup events around the globe. Zagunis’ closest test in the first four rounds was a 15-13 win in the round of 16 over Jiyeon Seo of Korea. Zagunis lost in the semifinals 15-13 to eventual champ Olga Kharlan of Ukraine. Zagunis gave Kharlan the closest match she faced all day. Ibtihaj Muhammad, who like Zagunis had a bye to table of 64, advanced twice before losing 15-12 to Anna Marton of Hungary in the round of 16. Monica Aksamit, who went 6-0 in pool play Friday, advanced once before losing 15-13 to Ekaterina Dyachenko of Russia. Dyachenko took out Kamali Thompson in the first round 15-4. Also losing in the first round was Francesca Russo, 15-5 to quarterfinalist Cecilia Berder of France, and Sage Palmedo 15-9 to runner-up Jiyeon Kim of Korea. Zagunis, Muhammad, Aksamit, and Palmedo compete as a team on Saturday.
No medals were won by the 13 Americans competing in knockout competition at the other two Fencing World Cup events on Saturday, and in fact only one made the round of 16. The most successful of the US competitors was in St. Petersburg where Gerek Meinhardt got three wins to start the day before losing to Russian Dmitri Rigine in the quarterfinals 15-13. Rigine was the runner-up overall. Alexander Massialas won one match before losing 15-6 to Andrea Baldini of Italy. Baldini went on to advance to the semifinals. Race Imboden and Miles Chamley-Watson both lost their opening matches, Imboden in a tight one 15-14 to Xiaolong Wu of China and Chamley-Watson in a close one as well 15-14 to Alaaeldin Abourlkassim of Egypt. These four will compete as a team on Sunday.
Over in Madrid it was a quick day for most of the Americans. Just one of the six Americans who had to compete in preliminaries advanced to the table of 64, Will Spear. Evan Prochniak, Phillipe Guy, and Andrew Doddo all won their opening match before losing in the second while Colin Campbell and Kamar Skeete lost their opening matches. Spear ended up facing off against fellow American Eli Dershwitz in the round of 64 and lost 15-8. Dershwitz himself was gone one round later after losing 15-14 to Alin Badea of Romania. Jeff Spear had an easy opening win but lost in the round of 32 as well, 15-12 to Vincent Anstett of France. The final American, Daryl Homer, was upset badly in round one 15-3 by Sanguk Oh of Korea. Dershwitz, Homer, Jeff Spear, and Peter Souders (who was winless in pool play and eliminated) will compete as a team for the US on Sunday.
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