Italy’s Davide Di Veroli, Russia’s Adelina Bikbulatova Score Victory for the Third Night of Teen Fencing Action
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria, April 3, 2017—In the third day of cadet fencing at the 2017 Junior & Cadet World Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 132 men and 91 women competed in individual epee and foil events, with athletes from Italy and Russia winning gold, respectively. It was an electrifying final evening of individual cadet competition.
A thrilling, 14-14 tied overtime final match went to a final score of 15-14, featuring Italy’s Davide Di Veroli edging-out USA’s Ryan Griffiths for the gold medal. The Italian also beat Griffiths’ teammate, USA’s Jonathan Piskovatskov, 15-10, in the semi-final round. Griffiths was victorious in the semi-final round against Russia’s Rafael Zagitov, also with a 15-10 score. Prior to that round, in the quarter-final, Zagitov beat Kyrgizstan’s Khasan Boudunov in an exciting 15-14 match that had the crowd on the edges of their seats.
Russia’s 15-year-old Adelina Bikbulatova took the gold medal, 13-9, in Cadet Women’s Foil over Hungary’s 16-year-old Nora Hajas with a very spirited audience of supporters for both fencers. Bikbulatova won the semi-final round, 15-10, against USA’s Natalie Minarik and took Canadian Cynthia Liu, 15-8, in the quarter-final. Silver medallist Hajas beat Singapore’s Amita Berthier, 12-10, in the semi-final round to make the gold-medal finals.
Top-eight finalists in Cadet Men’s Epee included Davide Di Veroli (ITA, gold), Ryan Griffiths (USA, silver), Rafael Zagitov (RUS, bronze), Jonathan Piskovatskov (USA, bronze), Nazar Kozhin (UKR), Giulio Gaetani (ITA), Khasan Boudunov (KGZ), and Bartlomiej Zbierada (POL).
In Cadet Women’s Foil, the final eight included Adelina Bikbulatova (RUS, gold), Nora Hajas (HUN, silver), Amita Berthier (SIN, bronze), Natalie Minarik (USA, bronze), Yuka Ueno (JPN), Martina Favaretto (ITA), Cynthia Liu (CAN), and Anna Taranenko (UKR).
The competition is being held on the Plovdiv International Fairgrounds, home to numerous sporting events in this ancient city. In all, 19 events will be fenced here over 10 days. The cadet competitors are younger than the juniors, and for many of them this is the first opportunity to compete in a major world event. Full results from Plovdiv may be found here and full information about the Championships may be found on the official event website.