A super weekend for Italian fencing

All the weapons of Italian fencing on the piste. It will be a very intense weekend that from Thursday, April 16 to Sunday, April 19, will see the foil men and women fencers engaged in the World Cup in Cairo, the sabre men and women fencers in Padua for the historic Luxardo Trophy, the sabre women in Athens and, finally, the women’s and men’s epee in the Grand Prix stage in Budapest. As many as 80 Azzurri are set to take to the boards in Egypt, Italy, Greece and Hungary, in a weekend that promises to be spectacular, made so dense because of the recoveries of the trials that were postponed a month ago after several airspaces were closed due to the well-known international events.

FORCE IN EGYPT

The foil World Cup in Cairo will kick off as early as Thursday with the preliminaries of the men’s competition, which will be followed by the women’s qualifiers on Friday, two days from which the “top 16” rankings are exempt; then the main draw of the two individual events on Saturday and the team competitions on Sunday.
A total of 24 athletes of CT Simone Vanni will be engaged on the Indoor Halls Complex platforms. Among men Guillaume Bianchi (No. 2 in the world rankings), Tommaso Marini (8), Filippo Macchi (14), Giulio Lombardi (18), Tommaso Martini (22), Davide Filippi (31), Alessio Foconi (33), Damiano Di Veroli (55), Edoardo Luperi (62), Damiano Rosatelli (69), Alessio Di Tommaso (104) and Giuseppe Franzoni (187).
Among the women will compete foilists Martina Favaretto (No. 2 in the world), Martina Batini (3), Arianna Errigo (6), Anna Cristino (11), Alice Volpi (13, again “admitted by right of ranking” thanks to her recent triumph in Lima), Martina Sinigalia (21), Francesca Palumbo (26), Irene Bertini (31), Carlotta Ferrari (42), Aurora Grandis (43), Elena Tangherlini (50) and Matilde Molinari (92).
The quartets for the team trials will be determined after the individual competitions.

SKEEPERS IN PADUA

The historic Luxardo Trophy in Padua, the most fascinating and oldest men’s saber World Cup event, will experience its 67th edition this year from Friday to Sunday. On the footpaths of the Padua Fairgrounds, Italy’s Technical Commissioner Andrea Terenzio will be able to field as many as 20 color-bearers as the host country, with the possibility of additional eve-of-season graft upon completion of the preliminary rounds that will take place on the opening day. Already admitted by right Luca Curatoli (No. 9 in the world rankings), will seek a spot for Saturday’s main draw Pietro Torre (22), Michele Gallo (24), Matteo Neri (32), Cosimo Bertini (40), Dario Cavaliere (43), Leonardo Dreossi (54), Edoardo Cantini (82), Mattia Rea (90), Marco Mastrullo (110), Marco Stigliano (124), Edoardo Reale (152), Francesco Bonsanto (204), Daniele Franciosa (229), Lupo Veccia Scavalli (264), Leonardo Reale (346), Antonio Aruta (442), Pietro Hirsch Butte, Christian Avaltroni, and Valerio Reale.
The highlights of Saturday’s individual competition will be broadcast live on SKY Sport Max from 5 p.m. The same time on Sunday, on SKY Sport Arena, for the live grand finale of the team event (the Italian quartet will be made official on the eve of the Team Event).

SKILLING Sabre in ATHENS

The Women’s Sabre World Cup will stop in Greece instead. Same schedule as planned in Padua, also for women sabre fencers in Athens: preliminaries on Friday, individual main draw on Saturday, team competition on Sunday. For Italy’s CT Andrea Aquili, the No. 5 ranking (exempt from qualifying) Michela Battiston, Mariella Viale (22), Chiara Mormile (37), Claudia Rotili (56), Manuela Spica (61), Martina Criscio (67), Eloisa Passaro (69), Carlotta Fusetti (97), Alessia Di Carlo (115), Michela Landi (130), Vittoria Mocci (147) and Gaia Karola Carafa will be on the platform at the Paiania Olympic Center. Also for women’s saber, the official announcement of the quartet for the Team Event will come on Saturday evening.

SPEED IN HUNGARY

The super weekend of international fencing will close with the women’s and men’s epee Grand Prix scheduled in Budapest where, like all GP circuit events, only individual competitions with increased points are scheduled. Friday and Saturday will be reserved for the preliminaries, first for the women and then the men (again, of course, the “best 16” in the seeding will be automatically admitted), while on Sunday at the Papp László Sports Arena the medals from the two events will be up for grabs.
In the women’s event, Technical Commissioner Dario Chiadò will field Giulia Rizzi (No. 2 in the ranking), Alberta Santuccio (4), Rossella Fiamingo (12), Sara Maria Kowalczyk (13), Roberta Marzani (30), Federica Isola (31), Gaia Caforio (44), Lucrezia Paulis (73), Carola Maccagno (81), Alessandra Bozza (104), Gaia Traditi (148) and Beatrice Cagnin (176). In the men’s event, on the other hand, CT Diego Confalonieri’s Azzurri will be Matteo Galassi (No. 5 in the world), Davide Di Veroli (9), Simone Mencarelli (23), Andrea Santarelli (26), Valerio Cuomo (47), Gianpaolo Buzzacchino (51), Filippo Armaleo (92), Enrico Piatti (142), Fabrizio Cuomo (157), Pietro Nicoli (444), Marco Francesco Locatelli (497) and Ettore Leporati (541).