The Senor World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China opened on day one with Individual competition in Men’s Sabre and Women’s Epee.

Two of Canada’s Men’s Sabre Fencers successfully advance to the top 64, which takes place Sunday, July 22^nd.  Fares Arfa from Laval, Quebec and Shaul Gordon who is originally from Richmond, BC but now lives and trains in Montreal, both made it through to Sunday’s competition.

Arfa finished with a record of four wins and one loss in poules.  He then defeated Tsung Yu Chu from Taipei 15-11 in his elimination bout. Arfa, seeded 41^st in the top 64 tableau, will face 24^th seed Tiberiu Dolniceanu from Romania on Sunday.

Gordon finished with an impressive five wins and one loss in his poules, tying him in 15^th place overall in the seeding after poules, which advanced him directly to the top 64’s. Seeded 32^nd, he will fence 33^rd seed Yang Lu from China when the Men’s Sabre Individual competition final round resumes on Sunday.

Teammate Marc Gelinas (Blainville, QC) lost his elimination bout and finished in 84^th place.

It was a tough day for Canada’s Women’s epee athletes with no one advancing to the top 64.  Malinka Hoppe Montanaro (Montreal, QC) and Zi Shan (Shirley) Guo (Toronto, ON) both lost their elimination bouts and finished in 72^nd and 76^th respectively.  Leonora MacKinnon (Canadian living in the UK) and Kay Sze (Vancouver, BC) failed to advance after poules.

Individual competition resumes today with Men’s Epee and Women’s Foil in action. For full results, please visit:  2018 Senior World Championship Live Results.  Photos and updates can also be found on the CFF Facebook page.

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