Thursday Wrap-up (10/13/2005)

(View the Thursday preview.)

Women's Foil

Through the day, 7th seed South Korea was upsetting stronger, more established teams like 2nd seed Russia (12-18) and 6th seed France (40-26). Hyun Hee Nam, a dynamo fencer under 5 feet tall, proved to be a solid anchor for the Koreans, whose capable fencers frequently needed stoking before they would catch fire.

While Nam didn't always score more than her team mates, but she often she scored her points while receiving less. With scores like 5-1, 5-3, 4-2, 6-1, 10-3, she created the feeling that she was dominating her opponents.

In a day of low team-match scores (15 of 35 matches reached the normal 45 points), the final bout was no exception. Fencers refused to give up more than a few touches, and would not risk anything more. Keeping close and engaged (in fear of the passivity rule) was the saving grace for the Korean team, which operated with a 1 to 2 point deficit through the first 5 rounds and sometimes seemed to need goading to close with the ROmanians..

Soon Korea brought it even, and then brought it ahead by round 7. It was Cristina Stahl of Romania who balanced the score again in the penultimate bout, and even crept ahead a point, 19-18.

So in the final bout, it was all on Nam, the dynamo, to bring the Korean team back. She and the vastly experienced Roxana Scarlat jockeyed for position, and Nam was able to balance the score just before overtime. Nam received priority, but still played a tight close-in game -- despite her ability to move she still has a very short reach. Her final touch was a daring close-out counter-attack into Scarlat's lunge.

South Korea in first place, followed by Romania and France, with Hungary in 4th place.

Team USA met France in the 16, and was defeated in a close fight 36-34. USA beat Canada and Kazakhstan, ultimately losing to Germany 45-23 to finish in 10th place. A marginal improvement for the 11th seed.

Men's Epee

The first and second seeds, France and Germany, dominated their respective matches. France -- 45-21 against Vietnam, 45-22 against Switzerland, 45-39 against Poland, 45-32 against the Ukraine. Germany was less decisive -- 45-18 against Denmark, 38-33 against South Korea, 33-28 against Spain, 45-36 against Hungary.

The only question that remained for the final bout was which of the juggernauts were better, and how much did Germany want to beat France? This was something of a grudge match, as France had beaten Germany in the 2004 Athens Olympics, 45/44. In the Paris Monal Grand Prix, the two teams met again, and a match-long German lead was crushed by a massive rally from Fabrice Jeannet in the final round.

In this final, Fabrice Jeannet took an early 5-0 lead, and for the rest of the match, Germany tried to close the gap. The Germans were on home ground, with a not-inconsiderable crowd cheering them on. Every German touch required a pause for noisemakers, drums, trumpets, horns, cheers and good ole clapping.

Closing Fabrice Jeannet's early lead proved impossible for the Germans, especially with France's Boisse also strong and untouchable and incredibly dangerous. By round 7, the lead had crept up to 10 points -- 32-24. Minor German rallies were not allowed to continue. Even Jerome Jeannet, who was the biggest point-giver for the Germans, would suddenly re-assert after the weak beginnings of his rounds, and finish off his round with a flurry of points.

France in first place, Germany in second. Third Ukraine and Hungary fourth.

Team USA #7 quickly dominated Qatar #26 with a score of 45-20. They then fought a close bout against Spain #10 in the early rounds, but lost 38-35. A subsequent loss to Korea allowed them to finish at 14th place.