Canada’s Senior Women’s Epee athletes were in Dubai over the weekend competing in a World Cup.  Rio 2016 Olympian Leonora MacKinnon is returning to form after an injury and finished 16^th in the World Cup that is part of the Tokyo Olympic qualification process.

MacKinnon, a Canadian who lives in England and trains in France, finished with four wins and two losses in poules and won her elimination bouts 15-8 and 15-9 to advance to the 64’s.  Her first bout in the main draw was against 10^th world ranked Kelley Hurley from USA, and MacKinnon came out with the win by a score of 15-8.  She then faced Sera Song from Korea and won the bout by a score of 15-11.  MacKinnon’s day came to an end in the 16’s with a 15-8 loss to Russia’s Violetta Kolobova who went on to take home bronze in the event.  Mackinnon finished in 16^th place out of 240 fencers.  Vancouver’s Kay Sze had Canada’s next best finish in 92^nd place.

The Women’s Epee team of Leonora MacKinnon, Malinka Hoppe-Montanaro (Montreal, QC), Ariane Leonard (St-Lambert, QC), and Emma Von Dadelszen (Vancouver, BC) defeated Egypt to advance to the top 16’s by a score of 45-35 and then lost to Russia 45-29 to finish in 16^th place overall following the ranking bouts.

Canada’s Senior Women’s Foil athletes continue to excel on the International stage.  Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) finished 18^th overall at the Senior Women’s Foil Grand Prix event in Shanghai, China, a high value event as part of the Tokyo Olympic qualification process.  Harvey who is ranked top 16 in the world defeated Yan Wai Liu of Hong Kong 15-4, but then lost to Francesca Palumbo from Italy 14-10 to finish in 18^th position out of 185 fencers. Jessica Zi Jia Guo (Toronto, ON) finished in 46^th place after qualifying for the top 64 by winning five out of six poule bouts and then winning her elimination bout 15-13.  Guo lost to 17^th world ranked Camilla Mancini of Italy 15-5 to finish in 46^th place overall.  Shannon Comerford (Saskatoon, SK) and Alanna Goldie (Calgary, AB) finished 73^rd and 77^th respectively, while Kelleigh Ryan (Ottawa, ON) finished in 102^nd.

Canada’s Men’s Foil athletes also competed in the Shanghai Grand Prix over the weekend and Canada’s Blake Broszus had Canada’s top placing in 102^nd out of over 200 fencers.

Canada’s Men’s Epee Team were in Paris for the World Cup and Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (Montreal, QC) had Canada’s top placing, finishing 89^th in a field of 375 fencers.  The Men’s Epee team of Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger, Dylan French (Richmond, BC), Seraphim Hsieh Jarov (Surrey, BC), and John Wright (Ottawa, ON) finished in 28^th place after defeating Chinese Taipei 45-37 in the 64’s and then losing to Korea 43-25.

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