Montréal, May 12, 2013 (Courtesy of Sportcom) – Quebec Epee athlete Vincent Pelletier made the quarter-finals Sunday at the Grand Prix in Berne, Switzerland, by defeating the number three world ranked athlete to finish 8th overall in the competition.

“It’s an exceptional day for me,” noted Pelletier before the quarter-finals. “Finishing top eight is an exceptional result and I defeated three big names to get there.” The Montreal native who is ranked 120th in the world, defeated the 110th ranked Egyptian Muhammad Saif by the score of 15-11 to start off his day.
In the round of 32, Pelletier faced the Estonian Nikolei Novosjolov, ranked third in the world. The Estonian had a tough time, with Pelletier taking control and winning 15-9. “He was not fencing well in his first match and I sensed that he was hesitant at the start of our dual,” commented Pelletier. “I was very patient and when he made his moves, I counter-attacked with success.”

Next, he successfully took on Yannick Borel from France, ranked 15th in the World, defeating him 15-12. “It is the third time that Borel and I have battled. In 2011 he first trounced me and then defeated me a second time 15-12. I feel that I threw him off today because his usual moves were not working against me. I felt his attacks coming and was able to counter them.”

In the quarter-final, Pelletier faced Venezuelan Silvio Fernandez, the 6th FIE ranked fencer. Pelletier battled hard and gave Fernandez a touch match, finally losing 15-14. The Montrealer was never ahead in this contest, but he managed to stay with him and tie up the score a number of times. He was behind 13-11 but kept calm to level the score at 14-14.

“I had a chance to get the 15th touch, but I didn’t seize the opportunity,” noted Pelletier. “He is a great Epeeist. Our styles are quite similar, but every time I evened the score, he never allowed me to get ahead in the points.”

Two other Quebec athletes finish in the top 64 – Hugues Boisvert-Simard took 25th place while Arnaud Tauffenberger finished 49th.

The three epeeists will be returning to Canada to compete at the Canadian Fencing Championships this weekend in Gatineau, Quebec.

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