It was a busy weekend for International fencing, with a number of Canadian women in competition around the world.

Canadian Senior Sabre athlete Marissa Ponich (Edmonton, AB) competed in the Saber Women’s FIE Satellite competition in Cancun, Mexico and took home a bronze medal! Ponich advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Mexico’s Brenda Paola Mendina Velasco 15-3. She lost to eventual silver medalist Tanya Arrayales 15-10 to take home bronze.

Canada’s Senior Women’s Foil team was in action in Gdansk, Poland competing in the FIE Gdansk World Cup. Hamilton’s Eleanor Harvey continues to impress, finishing 11^th. After winning strong 64 and 32 round bouts, Harvey lost her top 16 bout to Camilla Mancini from Italy 15-9 to take 11^th overall. The result puts Harvey in the top 10 world ranking for Women’s Foil. Alanna Goldie (Calgary, AB) also had a strong event, finishing 29^th. Goldie lost her 32 round bout to the eventual silver medalist Pauline Ranvier from France. Shannon Comerford (Saskatoon, SK) made it to the top 64 but lost the bout to finish 61^st overall.

The Women’s Foil Team of Shannon Comerford, Rose Finter, Alanna Goldie, and Eleanor Harvey competed on Sunday and finished in 9^th place. The team lost their 16’s bout a close 45-41 to Poland, their only loss on the day. They went on to win their next three bouts to finish 9^th. Canada defeated Chinese Taipei 44-18, Japan a very close 38-37, and China 43-36 to take the top consolation spot.

Canada’s Junior Women’s Epee athletes travelled to Helsinki, Finland to take part in a Junior World Cup. Canada’s top Individual athlete was Cindy Gao (Toronto, ON) who finished 14^th out of 178 fencers. Gao lost her 16’s bout to the eventual bronze medalist Aliya Bayron from France14-10.

Canada’s Junior Women’s Epee Team finished an impressive top 8. The team of Cindy Gao (Toronto, ON), Monica Lubczynski (Pointe-Claire, QC), Kirsten Van Marion (Grandora, SK ) and Alexanne Verret (Quebec, Quebec) defeated Switzerland in the 16’s by a score of 30-25 to advance to the top 8. The team lost to a very strong Russia and USA, before facing Germany, who they defeated 45-25 to finish in 7^th place overall.

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