This week’s installment of the traveling FIE World Cup has stops for the Sabre specialists in Madrid (men) and Tunis (women), with the top-ranked stars all in attendance:
● Men: 38th “Villa de Madrid” tournament in Spain
A very large field of 221 Sabre-istas is gathering in Madrid for an individual competition on Friday and Saturday and a team event on Sunday. The entire FIE top-10-ranked fencers are all entered:
1. Eli Dershwitz (USA) ~ 2018 World Championships silver medalist
2. Sang-Uk Oh (KOR) ~ 2017-18 World Team gold medalist
3. Max Hartung (GER) ~ World Cup Budapest winner in March
4. Luca Curatoli (ITA) ~ 2018 World Team silver; 2015 World Team gold medalist
5. Bon-Gil Gu (KOR) ~ 2012 Olympic Team gold; 2017-18 World Team gold medalist
6. Aron Szilagyi (HUN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion
7. Kamil Ibragimov (RUS) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
8. Jung-Hwan Kim (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze; 2018 World Champion
9. Jun-Ho Kim (KOR) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
10. Daryl Homer (USA) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
Dershwitz hasn’t won a medal since his victory in February’s World Cup in Warsaw (POL), but has maintained himself at the top of the world rankings by finishing fifth in four straight tournaments since! He’s quite familiar with the Villa de Madrid tournament, winning a silver there in 2017.
Look for results here.
● Women: World Cup in Tunis
An excellent field of 184 Sabre fighters has signed on for the individual event in Tunis (ALG), with a team event on Sunday. The entire top-10 in the FIE rankings is expected to be on hand:
1. Sofya Velikaya (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic silver; 2018 World Champs silver
2. Cecilia Berder (FRA) ~ 2017 World Championships bronze medalist
3. Ji-Yeon Kim (KOR) ~ 2012 Olympic Champion
4. Sofia Pozdniakova (RUS) ~ 2018 World Champion
5. Olga Kharlan (UKR) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze; 2017 World Champion
6. Anna Marton (HUN) ~ 2015 World Championships bronze medalist
7. Manon Brunet (FRA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
8. Anne-Elizabeth Stone (USA) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
9. Liza Pusztai (HUN)
10. Yana Egorian (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2018 Worlds bronze
The U.S. should have an excellent team opportunity, with Stone assisted by world-class teammates: 2016 Olympic Team bronze medalist Dagmara Wozniak (world rank: 13), Chloe Fox-Gitomer (25), and 2004-08 Olympic gold medalist Mariel Zagunis (28), now fencing again after maternity.
Look for results here.
