Fencing Webstream

Velikaia Wins Gold, Zagunis Silver in Women’s Sabre

October 12 2011, 7:46pm

Sophia Velikaia (RUS) found herself down 11-6 to 2 time Gold Medalist Mariel Zagunis (USA).  She did not give up, however, but fought her way back to knot the match at 14-14 and then won the decisive point.  With that display, she demonstrated that she expects better than 4th at the 2012 Olympics. Unlike the other weapons thus far all 4 top seeds made it to the final four.  This event was also unusual in that there were no Italians up for medals, though earlier in the day Italy claimed it’s 3rd gold of the World Championships. The talk of the tournament was Vietnam’s Thi le Dung Nguyen and her race to the top-16.  She opened the day with a stunning upset of Aleksandra Socha (POL) 15-12 and went on to defeat Reka Benko (HUN) 15-13.  Her run would end in the 16 as Irene Vecchi (ITA) defeated her 15-3.  This is the top result for a Vietnamese fencer in world championships competition. Olympic Sized Bouts There were several bouts throughout the day that were important for Olympic qualification, but none as directly impactful as the quarter-final match between Ekaterina Diatchenko (RUS) and Julia Gavrilova (RUS).  Russia boasts 3 fencers in the top-10 in Olympic qualification points, but due to this year’s rules only 2 fencers from a county may compete in Women’s Sabre.  The win by Gavrilova in the top-8 put Diatchenko on the outs, trailing by 12 world cup points with half a season left in qualifying, a difficult position to be in for the world’s 6th ranked fencer. The United States also boasts an overabundance of talent in the event, with 4 women ranked in the top-16.  Today, however, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Daria Schneider were unable to pull of wins in their opening round matches, leaving Dagmara Wozniak the opportunity to help herself along in the qualification process.  Wozniak earned victories over Margarita Tschomakova (BUL) and Dina Galiakbarova (RUS) to make the top-16.  She fell in her bid to make the 8 with a 15-10 loss to World #2 Olga Kharlan (UKR). Final Results; Women’s Sabre 2011 World Championship

Rank Name Country

1 VELIKAIA Sophia RUS

2 ZAGUNIS Mariel USA

3 KHARLAN Olga UKR

3 GAVRILOVA Julia RUS

5 DIATCHENKO Ekaterina RUS

6 ZHU Min CHN

7 VECCHI Irene ITA

8 MIKINA Sabina AZE

9 BESBES Azza TUN

10 MARZOCCA Gioia ITA

11 JOZWIAK Bogna POL

12 WOZNIAK Dagmara USA

13 STOLTZ Marion FRA

14 VOUGIOUKA Vassiliki GRE

15 NAKAYAMA Seira JPN

16 NGUYEN Thi Le Dung VIE

17 KIM Ji Yeon KOR

18 GALIAKBAROVA Dina RUS

19 ALASGAROVA Aida AZE

20 PERRUS Leonore FRA

21 KUBISSA Stefanie GER

22 BENKO Reka HUN

23 LAKERBAI Karina BRA

24 KIM Keum Hwa KOR

25 PUNDYK Galyna UKR

26 LIU Shan CHN

27 LIMBACH Anna GER

28 ZHOVNIR Olga UKR

29 NAVARRO Araceli ESP

30 GUARNERI Paola ITA

31 MARCOS Sandra ESP

32 WIECKOWSKA Irena POL

33 KHOMROVA Olena UKR

34 SOCHA Aleksandra POL

35 MUHAMMAD Ibtihaj USA

36 SCHNEIDER Daria USA

37 CHEN Xiaodong CHN

38 HUTCHISON Joanna GBR

39 VERGNE Carole FRA

40 PAIZI Marina GRE

41 AU Sin Ying HKG

42 BENITEZ Alejandra VEN

43 ZHIVITSA Yuliya KAZ

44 BOND-WILLIAMS Louise GBR

45 GRENCH Eileen PAN

46 FELIX LARA Rossy DOM

47 PASCU Bianca Alexandra ROU

48 LEE Ra Jin KOR

49 FONG Yi Tak HKG

50 PAGE Gabriella CAN

51 KRAVCHUK Iryna Ayse TUR

52 PEREZ MAURICE Maria Belen ARG

53 TSCHOMAKOVA Margarita BUL

54 NICOLL Chrystall GBR

55 PALFFY Petra ISR

56 BUJDOSO Alexandra GER

57 CONTRERAS Patricia VEN

58 KISIALIOVA Volha BLR

59 WILLIAMS Sophie GBR

60 BUNYATOVA Sevil AZE

61 JOHANNSDOTTIR Gudrun ISL

62 KIM Seon Hee KOR

63 VILA Laia ESP

64 MUNTEANU Elena ROU