Canada’s men’s epee team took 14^th place in the team competition this past weekend in Heidenheim, Germany, while the women’s team finished 15^th at their World Cup in Barcelona, Spain.

The men’s team, composed of Hugues Boisvert-Simard (Quebec, QC), Jean Lelion (Montreal, QC), Vincent Pelletier (Quebec, QC) and Leland Guillemin (Saskatoon, SK), started the tournament strong, defeating Poland, currently ranked 11^th in the world by a score of 41-33 in the round of 32.

“It’s been a while since we made the round of 16 so it was encouraging,” noted Vincent Pelletier. “We are very happy. It’s great for the whole team because it enabled us to compete in more matches and gain additional experience working together.”

The Canadians, ranked 21^st in the world, had to work hard to earn their win against Poland.  They were behind 10-15 after the first four relays but they came back in the fifth once Jean Lelion managed to reduce the Polish lead to 15-16.  This enabled Vincent Pelletier to later give the team the lead by a score of 26-24. The match was decided on the ninth and final relay when Hugues Boisvert-Simard had a hard fought matchup with Radoslaw Zawrotniak, and Boisvert-Simard scored five points in a row, enabling Canada to finally take the match by a score of 41-33.

“All three of us had great final bouts and this is what enabled us to ultimately defeat Poland,” explained Pelletier. “The Polish team is only ranked 11^th in the world right now but they are extremely experienced and the athletes have all been on the World Cup circuit for a long time.  It’s a big team and we are extremely pleased to have beaten them.”

In the round of 16, the Canadians were defeated 38-26 by Hungary, ranked 6^th in the world and were then relegated to the classification round.  They then faced Spain and lost 45-35 before recapturing their winning form by defeating Argentina 40-39. In their final bout to determine 13^th and 14^th place, the Canadians faced Estonia, and after a very close match, lost 38-34. The team finished in 14^th place earning them their first top 16^th placing for this season.

Meanwhile the women’s team were in action in Barcelona and also got off to a great start in the team competition by defeating Hong Kong in the round of 32 with everyone contributing to the victory.

The women’s team, composed of Alexis Rudkovska (Toronto, ON), Kay Sze (Coquitlam, BC), Leonora Mackinnon (Great Britain) and Malinka Hoppe Montanaro (Montreal, QC) came back from an early deficit to take the lead, with Mackinnon coming off the bench to outscore her first opponent 13-2. The team then managed to ward off a comeback attempt by Hong Kong to eventually win in overtime by a score of 44-43.

Next up was the always strong Russian team in the round of 16.  The Canadians managed to keep it close until the very end when the Russians were able to run up the score, defeating Canada 45-31.  “This was a great improvement from the last time we competed against them,” noted National Coach David Howes. “Last time we only managed to score 17 points against the Russians.”

This put Canada in the classification round and they unfortunately lost two very close bouts – the first to Korea 45-38 and the next one to Venezuela 45-41.  Canada did however have a chance to end their day on a win, which they did in convincing fashion leading from start to finish against Israel, defeating them by a score of 45-34.  “Everyone fenced well,” stated Coach Howes. “Our final result was 15^th place and we finished better than three teams above of us in the world rankings.”

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