FENCING Preview: Top-ranked Kong, Dershwitz and Velikaya in World Cup action this weekend

American Sabre fencing star Eli Dershwitz

The fourth round of World Cup action in Epee and Sabre comes this week on three continents, with strong fields in all four events:

Men’s Epee World Cup in Buenos Aires

The Omar Vergara Tournament in Argentina has drawn a large field of 220 men, including nine of the top 10 in the FIE World Rankings:

2. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
3. Dmitriy Alexanin (KAZ)
4. Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
5. Koki Kano (JPN)
7. Jacob Hoyle (USA)
8. Kazuyasu Minobe (JPN)
9. Yulen Pereira (ESP)
10. Curtis McDowald (USA)

In the last Epee World Cup, Kano defeated 2014 World Championships bronze winner Enrico Garozzo (ITA), in Vancouver. Look for results from Buenos Aires here.

Women’s Epee World Cup in Chengdu

Eight of the top 10 in the FIE rankings are in China for the fourth Epee World Cup, with a large field of 167 starters:

1. Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG) ~ Two World Cup wins this season
2. Young Mi Kang (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
5. Mara Navarria (ITA) ~ 2018 World Champion
6. Olena Kryvytska (UKR) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
7. Kelley Hurley (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
8. Courtney Hurley (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze; 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
9. Mingye Zhu (CHN) ~ 2018 Worlds Team bronze medalist
10. Julia Beljajeva (EST) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze; 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist

Kong ascended to the top spot in the rankings with three strong World Cup performances, finishing second in Tallinn (EST) last November, then winning in Havana in January and again in the February World Cup in Barcelona, defeating Hye-In Lee of Korea.

Look for results here.

Men’s Sabre World Cup in Budapest

There are 222 Sabre stars entered in Hungary, all chasing after no. 1-ranked Eli Dershwitz of the U.S. The top-ranked entries include three members of the gold-medal-winning Korean team from the 2018 World Championships:

1. Eli Dershwitz (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
2. Bon-Gil Gu (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
3. Sang-Uk Oh (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
4. Aron Szilagyi (HUN) ~ 2012 and 2016 Olympic Champion
5. Luca Curatoli (ITA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
7. Kamil Ibragimov (RUS) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
8. Max Hartung (GER)
9. Jun-Ho Kim (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
10. Enrico Barre (ITA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist

Curatoli took the last World Cup, the Luxardo Trophy in Padua (ITA) earlier this month, after finishing second to Dershwitz in Warsaw (POL) in January. Look for results here.

Women’s Sabre World Cup in Sint-Niklaas

A total of 196 fencers are registered for this tournament in Belgium, including the entire top 10 in the FIE World Rankings:

1. Sofya Velikaya (RUS) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
2. Cecilia Berder (FRA) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
3. Anna Marton (HUN)
4. Sofia Pozdniakova (RUS) ~ 2018 World Champion
5. Olga Kharlan (UKR) ~ 2017 World Champion
6. Bianca Pascu (ROM)
7. Ji-Yeon Kim (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team bronze medalist
8. Anne-Elizabeth Stone (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
9. Liza Pusztai (HUN)
10. Soo-Yeon Choi (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team bronze medalist

Pozdniakova defeated Kharlan in a clash of the last two World Champions, 15-10, in the Athens World Cup final earlier this month; Berder won in January in Salt Lake City, and Marton won the World Cup opener last November in Orleans (FRA). Look for results here.

All of the tournament are scheduled for individual competition on Thursday and Friday, and a team event on Saturday.