12 nations qualified one athlete each at the 2016 European Fencing Olympic Zonal Tournament. The format had a group stage used to determine seeds where a single elimination tournament followed. For individual events with a team event (men’s epee, men’s foil, women’s epee, women’s sabre) the top ranked athlete qualified to the Olympics. For individual events without a team event (men’s sabre, women’s foil) the top four athletes qualified to the Olympics. The European Fencing Olympic Zonal Tournament was held in Prague, Czech Republic from April 16th to April 17th.
The men’s epee was won by Jiri Beran of the Czech Republic. In the final Beran defeated Austria’s Josef Mahringer in a close 15-13 match.
Since all of the semi-finalist qualifies to the Olympics in the women’s foil the quarter-finals were essentially the final for the event. Israel’s Delila Hatuel won the first quota by defeating Ukraine’s Olga Leleyko 15-11. Greece’s Aikaterini Kontochristopoulou went up against Great Britain’s Natalia Sheppard and prevailed. Turkey’s Irem Karamete booked her spot to the Olympics by defeating Netherlands’ Milja Mondt 15-10. The final spot went to Malina Calugareanu of Romania whom defeated Austria’s Olivia Wohlgemuth 15-9.
Similarly the men’s sabre qualification effectively ended during the quarter-final matches as all four semi-finalists qualified to the Olympics. Ukraine’s Andriy Yagodka won the first quota against Austria’s Mathias Willau 15-13. Georgia’s Sandro Bazadze defeated Israel’s Kostiantyn Voronov 15-12 to book his spot to the Olympics. Bulgaria’s Pancho Paskov defeated Great Britain’s James Honeybone 15-7. The final spot went to Belgium’s Seppe van Holsbeke whom defeated Turkey’s Enver Yildrim 15-7.
The women’s epee was won by Switzerland’s Tiffany Geroudet whom defeated Poland’s Renata Knapik-Miazga 15-7.
The final for the men’s foil was a close match between Austria’s Rene Pranz and Turkey’s Martino Minuto. Pranz won the match 15-14.
The women’s sabre was won by Azerbaijan’s Sabina Mikina whom defeated Belarus’ Palina Kaspiarovich 15-11.
This was the final opportunity for European nations to qualify in fencing to the Olympics. The final qualification event, the American Olympic zonal tournament should conclude later today.
Quotas by Nations
- Austria – 1
- Azerbaijan – 1
- Belgium – 1
- Bulgaria – 1
- Czech Republic – 1
- Georgia – 1
- Greece – 1
- Israel – 1
- Romania – 1
- Switzerland – 1
- Turkey – 1
- Ukraine – 1
References
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Men’s Epee. Access on April 17 2016.
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Men’s Foil. Access on April 17 2016.
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Men’s Sabre. Access on April 17 2016.
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Women’s Epee. Access on April 17 2016.
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Women’s Foil. Access on April 17 2016.
- FIE. 2016 European Olympic Zonal Tournament – Women’s Sabre. Access on April 17 2016.
Road to the Olympics 