Egor Guzhiev (RUS) and Komaki Kikuchi (JPN) Win on Third Evening of Junior Teen Fencing Action in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria, April 7, 2017—In the third day of junior fencing at the 2017 Junior & Cadet World Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 196 men and 112 women competed in individual epee and foil events. Russia’s Egor Guzhiev took gold in epee, while Japan’s Komaki Kikuchi took the women’s title.
Junior Men’s Epee featured a stunning result for 135th-ranked Russian Egor Guzhiev, who upset first-ranked Italian Valerio Cuomo in the final, 15-14, coming from behind to win gold. Cuomo, who also took silver at last year’s Junior World Championships in Bourges, France and recently won gold at the Junior World Cup in Udine, Italy, overtook his teammate, Cosimo Martini, 15-11, in today’s semi-final. The 18-year-old Guzhiev beat Hungary’s third-ranked Gergely Siklosi in the other semi-final, 14-13, before going on to win the final match and become World Champion.
In the Junior Women’s Foil finals, Japan’s Komaki Kikuchi, ranked eighth going into the competition, had a strong 15-8 gold-medal victory against Italy’s fifth-ranked Serena Rossini. The 20-year-old Kikuchi beat USA’s Iman Blow in the semi-final, 15-9, and France’s Marie Duchesne in the quarter-final, 15-13. The 17-year-old Rossini beat China’s Ali Huang, 14-12, in a hard-fought semi-final, and USA’s Sabrina Massialas in the quarter-final, 12-11.
Top-eight finalists in Junior Men’s Epee included Egor Guzhiev (RUS, gold), Valerio Cuomo (ITA, silver), Cosimo Martini (ITA, bronze), Gergely Siklosi (HUN, bronze), Maciej Bielec (POL), Adrian Dabija (ROU), Tibor Andrasfi (HUN), and Federico Vismara (ITA).
In Junior Women’s Foil, the final eight included Komaki Kikuchi (JPN, gold), Serena Rossini (ITA, silver), Iman Blow (USA, bronze), Ali Huang (CHN, bronze), Sabrina Massialas (USA), Marie Duchesne (FRA), Rebeca Candescu (ROU), and Sumire Tsuji (JPN).
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. Cadet fencers are younger than juniors, although for many of both groups this is the first opportunity to compete in a major world event. For some, they will also compete this July in the Senior World Fencing Championships in Leipzig, Germany. Full results from Plovdiv may be found here and full information about the Championships may be found on the official event website.