This past weekend, a handful of BC fencers traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to compete in the first NAC of the Canadian qualification season. The competition ran from October 12th-15th, and consisted of Div 1, Div 2, Cadet, and wheelchair events.

On day one, Thomas Greenwood competed in the Cadet men’s sabre event. He started the day off strong with 4 wins and only 1 loss in his poole of 6, seeding him 24th going into DEs. Thomas had a BYE through the first round, but unfortunately the following DE 15-6. He finished the event in 39th place.

Day two, Christina Zozulya competed in the second day of the Div 1 women’s epee event. Another strong start in pooles for our BC athlete, as she came out with 5 wins and 1 loss in both round of pooles. After the second day’s round of pooles, Christina was seeded 21st going into the direct eliminations. Her first DE was against another Canadian athlete, who Christina beat 15-8 to move on to the round of 64. Her 64’s DE was a very close 15-14, and put her through to 32’s. It was in the 32 that she lost to an American 15-7, which placed her 19th after two days of competition.

Div 2 women’s epee, and the second day of Div 1 men’s epee took place on day 3 of the NAC. Nicole Su placed within the top 16, and Miranda Yang placed within the top 32. Nicole started her pooles off with 5 wins and 0 losses, which seeded her 7th going into DEs. Miranda also won all of her poole bouts, and was seeded 1st!  In Nicole’s first DE she defeated her opponent 15-6, and continued by beating her following opponent in the 64, 15-6 as well. In the round of 32, Nicole won 15-12. It was in the top 16 that Nicole lost 15-13 to an American athlete. Miranda had a BYE through the round of 128, and continued the event by winning her first DE 15-12. Unfortunately, she lost her second bout 15-10. Nicole finished the event in 11th and Miranda in 17th.

In Div 1 men’s epee, Howard came out of pooles seeded 29th after finishing with 4 wins and 2 losses. In the first round of DE’s, Howard handily beat his American opponent 15-4. He then went on to lose a close 7-6 bout in the round of 64. Overall he came out with a 46th place finish, but this wasn’t the end of the competition for him as he still had the cadet event.

The last day of competition both Christina and Howard would be fencing again, but this time in the cadet epee categories. Women’s epee was up first at 8am, where Christina left pooles with 5 wins and only 1 loss, This result put her in a 14th seed position as she advanced into the direct eliminations. Both her first and second DE’s concluded with 15-6 wins for Christina, However, it was in her top 16 DE that she lost to the 3rd place seed 15-11. She finished the event in 14th place.

Finally, Howard competed in the cadet men’s epee event. He also went 5-1 in his poole, but was tied for the 11th place seeding. His ranking earned him a BYE through the round of 128, and straight into the 64. His first bout was a close 15-13, but he pulled through to move onto the 32’s. The next opponent he faced was another Canadian, but Howard sailed through the bout, and he ended up winning 15-5. Top 16 saw a 15-11 finish for Howard, and another 15-9 win in the round of 8. In the semi-final, he faced a 10th place seeded American, and unfortunately lost a close battle of 15-14. Congratulations Howard on your bronze medal!

Well done to all of our BC athletes on their results, and good luck in your various competitions yet to come!

GO BC!

Monday, July 2nd (Day 4 of BC competition), we watched Cadet women’s foil and Cadet men’s epee.

In Cadet women’s foil, Sabrina Fang would fence one last time for the weekend. She started the day strong with 5 victories and 1 loss in her poule, grasping a 25th place initial seeding, and a BYE into the round of 128. She won her first DE with an impressive 15-6 victory. In 64’s, Sabrina proved herself yet again with a 15-5 victory over a Central Californian fencer. However, it was in the 32’s that the tables turned and Sabrina lost a 15-7 match. In the end she finished with a 26th place result. Congratulations Sabrina!

It was in the Cadet men’s epee event that we were treated to a spectacular BC display from our very own Howard Zhao! He started out the event seeded 3rd out of 214 athletes, due to his previous NAC results. He wasted no time in flexing his skill, going 5-0 in poules. He proceeded into the first round of direct eliminations still seeded 3rd, which gained him a BYE into 128’s. Howard breezed through his first bout with a 15-5 victory, and continued to dominate in the 64’s with a 15-7 win. In 32’s, Howard continued the winning streak with a score of 15-9. He sailed through 16’s with a 15-12 victory, guaranteeing him a top 8 medal at least. However, a mere top 8 medal wouldn’t be enough for Howard, as he made it through the round with a 15-7 win. In the semi-final, and fighting for a place in the final, Howard took the bronze medal bout into his own hands with a score of 15-9.

It was in the gold medal final that it seemed like it could have been a silver medal for our BC boy. However, with his Dynamo teammates behind him, and his coach Igor Gantsevich screaming (literally), Howard pulled out a 15-14 victory. He made a stupendous comeback within the last 20 seconds of the 3rd period, bringing the score to 14-14 with 1 second left on the clock. As the score was tied, the bout went into 1 minute of overtime, and priority to his opponent. Then came his final attack, and it was a single red light for Howard. Cheering and screaming erupted from the crowd, and coach Gantesvich ran onto the piste to congratulate his student. Congratulations Howard, Igor, and the rest of the Dynamo family. If you want to experience this excitement for yourself, click the link below and fast-forward to the Cadet men’s epee bout.

Full results: https://www.usfencingresults.org/results/2017-2018/2018.06-JUN-SN/

Howard’s Gold medal bout: https://www.facebook.com/USAFencing/videos/10156510844739948/

On the third day of competition, and well as it being Canada Day, we saw Christina Zozulya fencing again for her third and final event – Cadet Women’s epee. And boy, did she have a come back.

In the initial round of poules, Christina pulled out a result of 5 victories and only 1 loss. This fantastic start seeded her in 17th place going into the direct elimination rounds, as well as a BYE into the round of 128. Her first DE resulted in a 15-12 win for our BC girl, sending her into 64’s. In her 64’s bout she was victorious yet again, with a  15-8 win over a fencer hailing out of New Jersey. Unfortunately, the round of 32 was the end of the road, as Christina lost this bout 15-11. Due to her seeding after poules, she finished with a 22nd place result. Well done Christina!

As BC didn’t have any fencers registered to compete on the actual second day of the NAC, we look forward to the 30th instead. For our BC athletes, this day featured Junior Men’s epee, and junior women’s foil, as well as Div 1 women’s epee.

The junior boys started their event at 8am, starting off strong in poules. With 6 wins and 0 losses for all three of our BC boys, they were seeded exceptionally well going into the direct elimination rounds. Fynn was seeded 6th, Howard 3rd, and Seraphim 2nd, which resulted in BYEs into the round of 256. Seraphim sailed through his first DE with a 15-4 win against number 255 seed. However, despite his past bout and initial seed, he lost 13-9 in the round of 128. Fynn won his first bout 15-11 to send him into 128’s, where he achieved his second victory of the day 15-7. In the round of 64, Fynn was successful yet again with a 15-10 win. It was in the round of 32 that Fynn finally met his match, with a 15-8 loss to a New York fencer. Fynn finished 17th overall. Last, but certainly not least, we look at Howard Zhao’s matches. He won his first bout 15-6 in 256’s, and proceeded to pull out another sweeping win of 15-11 in the round of 128. In 64’s he continued to show his skill with a 15-11 win, and then another closer victory in the 32’s of 15-14. Unfortunately Howard lost his top 16bout 15-12, resulting in a 9th place finish – just shy of a medal. With a field of 322 to fight through, these are some fantastic results, boys! Congratulations!

In junior women’s foil, TFA’s Sabrina Fang competed amongst 226 other girls. In her poule she had 2 wins and 4 losses, placing her as 168th seed. However, despite her rough start to the day, Sabrina pulled through the round of 256 with a 15-4 victory! Into the round of 128, Sabrina faced another New England fencer, and won the bout 15-12. It was in the 64’s that Sabrina was unable to catch her opponent, and finished the day in 64th place, with a 15-8 loss.

The final event of the day for our BC fencers was the Div 1 women’s epee event, where we would see Christina Zozulya fencing again. She started the day with only 2 victories in her poule, and 4 losses. This poule result landed her as 70th seed going into the first round of DE’s. With a field of 101 girls, the first round of DE’s started in the 128’s. Christina won her first bout with a very close score of 15-14. Into the round of 64’s, and she faced a fencer from the Gulf Coast, though was unable to get the upper hand, and lost 15-12. She finished the day with a 63rd place result.

For full results from the second day of competition for BC fencers, please visit: https://www.usfencingresults.org/results/2017-2018/2018.06-JUN-SN/

With the highly successful BC Provincial Championships under wraps only a week ago, BC fencers were already on their way to another competition – The July NAC in St. Louis, Missouri. The competition is by far one of the largest, if not the largest North American competition in the circuit as of right now, and BC raked in some amazing results over the course of the event.

The competition started on Thursday, June 28th, with Div 1 Women’s Foil, Junior Women’s Epee, Junior Men’s Sabre, and Div 1 Men’s Epee. The day began with women’s foil and epee at 8am. BC’s Sabrina Fang (TFA) fenced first in the women’s foil event, placing 92nd. In women’s epee, Christina Zozulya (DYN) was undefeated and seeded 1st after the initial round of poules. She had a BYE into 128’s, and won that first match 15-8. Unfortunately her journey ended in the next round, finishing 33rd after a 15-9 loss in the 64.

As BC didn’t have any athletes competing in the Junior men’s sabre event we fast-forward to the Div 1 Men’s epee event, which featured three BC fencers. Fynn Fafard (DYN) placed 30th overall, losing 15-8 to Ayman Fayez. He had a 15-11 win in the 128’s, and a 15-6 victory in the 64, but fell short to the 2012 Egyptian Olypian in the 32. Seraphim Jarov finished in 61st place with a 15-11 loss in the 64’s, and Howard Zhao came 82nd.

Overall not a bad start to the competition, but there was so much more to look forward to in the coming days, so stay tuned!

For full results, please visit: https://www.usfencingresults.org/results/2017-2018/2018.06-JUN-SN/

It’s April 9th, which means today was the last day of the 2018 Verona Cadet/Junior World Championships, so this will be the final competition update! We have followed our BC athletes throughout each of their events, but today we would like to recognize some of the highlights from all of our Canadians:

Ariane Leonard – 19th Junior Women’s Epee, 20th Cadet Women’s Epee

Fynn Fafard – 39th Junior Men’s Epee

Seraphim Jarov – 33rd Cadet Men’s Epee

Christina Zozulya, Ariane Leonard, Cindy Gao, and Shirley Guo – 13th Junior Women’s Epee team

Rachel Lamarre – 16th Junior Women’s Epee

Madison Thurgood – 24th Junior Women’s Epee

Angelo Chiara – 25th Junior Men’s Epee

Madison Thurgood, Marina Guintchitskaia, Rachel Lamarre, and Bai Xun You Lui  – 17th Junior Women’s Sabre team

Hunter Moricz, Angelo Chiara, Francois Chaucon, and Spencer Mcphedran – 11th Junior Men’s Sabre team

Jane Caulfield – 7th Junior Women’s Foil, 14th Cadet Women’s Foil

Sarah Filby – 18th Junior Women’s Foil

Tinney Mak – 16th Cadet Women’s Foil

Ying Cao – 25th Cadet Women’s Foil

Patrick Liu – 30th Cadet Men’s Foil

Ying Cao, Jane Caulfield, Sarah Filby, and Naomi Moindrot-Zilliox – 9th Junior Women’s Foil team

Patrick Liu, Blake Broszus, Daniel Gu, Alex Cai – 18th Junior Men’s Foil team

Congratulations to all of our Canadian athletes on their results at Worlds, and best of luck in all of their future endeavours!

In the midst of excitement of the Cadet/Junior World Championships, we’re all feeling those competition cravings set in. So, as the seasons change, let’s get out there and get involved in some great local BC competitions!

April

• Meadowridge Open 2018 – April 14th-15th – Meadowridge School: Maple Ridge, BC

May

• Dynamo Youth Open Grande Finale (#5) Y8-Y14 – May 6th – Dynamo Fencing Club: Richmond, BC
• Jeux De Pomme 2018 – May 12th-13th – Beairsto Elementary School: Vernon, BC
• TFA 2017-2018 Youth/Cadet/Junior Circuit Final – May 27th – Queen of All Saints Elementary School Gymnasium: Coquitlam, BC

Competitions in Canada

• 53rd Governor General’s Tournament – April 14th-15th – RA Centre: Ottawa, ON
• Provincial Championships 2018 (Alberta) – April 14th-15th – Edmonton Garrison Military Fitness Centre: Sturgeon County, AB
• 2018 Vango Tigers Cup – May 5th-6th – Vango Toronto Fencing Centre: Markham, ON
• Can/Am Veterans Cup 2018 – May 26th-27th – Vango Toronto Fencing Centre: Markham, ON

For further information, please visit AskFred.net: https://askfred.net/Events/future.php?