Canada’s young Rio Olympians continue to climb the rankings in World Cup competition, showing their potential for Tokyo 2020.

Maximilien Van Haaster (Montreal, QC) took part in the Men’s Foil World Cup in Bonn, Germany this past weekend and finished 13^th out of 212 fencers. Van Haaster went a perfect 5 wins and 0 losses in poules to advance directly to the 64’s. There he defeated Meddy Elice from France 15-8. He was tested in the 32’s against Denmark’s Thomas Lerche Berg, but came away with the win by a score of 15-14. Van Haaster’s day came to an end in the 16’s with a loss to France’s Enzo Lefort who went on to win silver in the event.

“It’s my best result of the season, and it feels great,” said Van Haaster, who finished 22^nd in January at the Paris World Cup.

Rio Olympian Leonora Mackinnon (Canadian living in the UK) was also in action at the Women’s Epee World Cup in Legnano, Italy. Mackinnon performed well in poules, finishing with 5 wins and 1 loss, first in her group and advancing directly to the 64’s. There she unfortunately faced a strong Italian, Alberta Santuccio who defeated her 15-5. Mackinnon finished in 44^th place out of 192 fencers.

Canada also competed in the Senior Team events at these competitions with some of Canada’s junior athletes taking part. The men’s Foil Team of Marc-Antoine Brodeur (Boucherville, QC), Patrik Dula (Saskatoon, SK), Kamil Karbonowski (Milton, ON) and Maximilien Van Haaster (Montreal, ON) finished in 16^th place, defeating Sweden 45-44 in the 32’s but then finishing in the 16^th spot.

Canada’s Women’s Epee Team of Brittany Mark-Larkin (Ile Bizard, QC), Malinka Hoppe-Montanaro (Montreal, QC), Vanessa Lacas-Warrick (Markham, ON) and Leonora Mackinnon (Canadian living in the UK) lost their bout in the 32’s to Kazakhstan 45-30 to finish in 17^th place overall.

Canada’s Junior Sabre athletes were also in World Cup action this weekend. The team of Frederique Bourget, Rachel Lamarre, and Veronique Lamarre (all from Blainville, QC), finished 8^th in the Women’s Sabre World Cup team event in Segovia, Spain. They lost to Japan 45-35.

The Men’s Junior Sabre team of Falan Kennedy (Airdrossan, AB), Spencer McPhedran (Edmonton, AB) and Hunter Moricz (North Vancouver, BC) also finished in 8^th place in Dourdan, France. The team defeated Chile in the 16’s by a score of 45-34 but lost to Japan by the same score to eventually finish in 8^th.

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