An exciting weekend of action at international competitions for Canadian fencers! Top finishes go to Patrick Liu (UNT, Ontario) who finished 5^th in Guatemala City at the junior men’s foil World Cup; and Seraphim Hsieh Jarov (DYN, British Columbia) who finished 9^th in San Salvador at the junior men’s epee World Cup.

Patrick Liu won all of his bouts in the pool stage, entering the tables ranked 1^st. Liu earned a bye to the table of 16 where he beat Alejandro Narro of Peru (15-6). In the quarter finals, Liu fell to Brazil’s Kevin Lima (15-12).

In San Salvador, Hsieh Jarov came out of the pool stage ranked 2^nd. He earned a bye to the table of 16, and unfortunately lost 15-12 to Daniel Ojeda Buitrago of Costa Rica.

As well, the team of Fares Arfa, Marc Gelinas, Shaul Gordon, and Joseph Polossifakis (all from Quebec), finished 16^th at the senior men’s sabre World Cup in Cairo. The Canadian team beat the team of Hong Kong/China 45-31 in the table of 32, but fell to Italy in the following round. The event is part of the Olympic Qualification process for Tokyo 2020. As of 16 November 2019, Shaul Gordon holds a place for men’s sabre as an individual, and is currently ranked 23^rd in the world.

Parafencers Matthew Hebert (Beauharnois, QC) and Pierre Mainville (Saint-Colomban, QC) also saw action this weekend in Amsterdam at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup. This event is part of the Paralympic Qualification process for Tokyo 2020. Hebert, who competes in epee (category A), won against Britain’s Matthew Campbell-Hill (15-14) in the table of 64. In the following round, Hebert lost to the reigning world champion, Piers Gilliver of Britain. Hebert finished 31^st. Manville, who competes in sabre (category B), also made it to the table of 32, but fell to Laurent Vaudon of France, finishing 18^th. Hebert and Mainville are currently ranked 17^th and 8^th, respectively, in the world in their individual events. They will both be competing in February at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in Eger, Hungary.

This weekend coming up we will see our senior women’s foil athletes travel to Cairo to participate in individual and team events at the World Cup, senior men’s epee athletes travel to Berne World Cup (individual and team), senior women’s sabre are headed to Orleans World Cup (individual and team), and junior women’s epee athletes will compete at the Laupheim World Cup.

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