Fencing Canada – Shaul Gordon (Montreal, QC) tied his personal best in Senior World Cup this past weekend, finishing 15th at the Men’s Sabre event in Madrid, Spain, an event that counts towards Olympic qualification.
Gordon got off to a good start with five wins and one loss in poules and won both of his elimination bouts to advance to the top 64. He faced Ali Pakdaman (IRI) in the 64’s and won 15-11. He then faced Enrico Berre from Italy and once again won by the score of 15-11. This advanced Gordon to the top 16’s where he faced Aron Szilagyi of Hungary, the event’s eventual silver medalist, and lost 15-9 to finish in 15th place overall.
Teammate Joseph Polossifakis (Laval, QC) finished in 76th place after losing his second elimination bout by a close score of 15-13. The event featured 225 of the world’s top fencers.
In the Men’s Sabre team competition, the team of Fares Arfa, Marc Gelinas, Shaul Gordon and Joseph Polossifakis faced Thailand in their first bout and lost 45-40 to finish in 17th.
Canada’s Senior Women’s Sabre athletes competed in the World Cup in Tunis, also an Olympic qualification event. Gabriella Page (Blainville, QC) was Canada’s top fencer, finishing 43rd over all out of 181 fencers. Page had five wins and one loss in poules which advanced her directly to the top 64’s, where she lost to Shihomi Fukushima 15-8 to take 43rd spot. Madison Thurgood (Edmonton, AB) was Canada’s next best fencer, finishing 91st after losing her second elimination bout.
Canada’s Women’s Sabre Team of Gabriella Page, Marissa Ponich, Madison Thurgood and Rebecca Jeffrey lost a very close bout to Tunisia 45-43 to finish in 17th place.