Fencing World Cup: as many as 10 Azzurre in the main draw

10 female swordsmen qualified for main draw at Vancouver World Cup

The qualifying phase of the women’s competition opened the long weekend dedicated to the Epee World Cup in Vancouver, and Italy got off on the right foot, placing as many as 10 female swordsmen in Saturday’s main draw.

For the Italian national team, Rossella Fiamingo, Mara Navarria and Federica Isola were already qualified among the top 64 – by ranking rights. They were immediately joined by Giulia Rizzi, with a convincing plein of victories in the group stage. Subsequently, brilliantly traversing their respective preliminary rounds, Alessandra Bozza, Nicol Foietta, Sara Maria Kowalczyk, Roberta Marzani, Beatrice Cagnin, and Alice Clerici also got the pass. Eleonora De Marchi and Elena Ferracuti did not make it, and remain with the regret of defeats by one stroke.

In the Italian afternoon today (Canada is 9 hours “behind” Italy) the Italian epee trip of CT Dario Chiadò will continue with the qualifications of the men’s competition. Already admitted among the 64 the “top 16” ranking Federico Vismara, Andrea Santarelli and Davide Di Veroli, will pull in the first phase Gabriele Cimini, Valerio Cuomo, Giulio Gaetani, Enrico Garozzo, Enrico Piatti, Filippo Armaleo, Nicolò Bonaga, Luca Diliberto and Giacomo Paolini.

Before the start of the competitions, however, Canada hosted the project the “Beauty in a Gesture,” a traveling program created by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Fencing Federation to support the promotion of Italy’s image in the world precisely through the discipline of the three weapons. “A special evening, here at the Vancouver Museum, with the Italian National Sword Team. As a former young fencer, it is a great pleasure to organize this event with ARPICO and to welcome the sport that has given Italy the greatest number of Olympic medals, the discipline that also shares with our country some unique characteristics such as beauty, elegance, speed, inclusiveness and tradition,” the words with which the Consul General in Vancouver, Fabio Messineo, opened the proceedings. “Nutrition in Sport and the Mediterranean Diet” was the theme of the meeting organized by the Consulate General of Italy with special speaker the Italian champion Rossella Fiamingo, in the dual role of a multi-medalist spadist and also an expert on the subject as she holds a degree in Dietetics. “Rossella is from Sicily, my region, and this is an additional source of pride for me. Her testimony is doubly important, as an Olympic medalist and a dietician. There could not have been a better speaker to discuss the Mediterranean Diet that represents our identity and supports the local economy,” the Consul said again.

Messineo, thanking the group led in Canada by Technical Commissioner Dario Chiadò, who entrusted Master Roberto Cirillo with the institutional greeting of the Italian delegation. There then followed speeches by ARPICO President Nicola Fameli and Emma McCrudden, professor of “Sports and Exercise Nutrition” in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, before a panel discussion on high-level sports and nutrition. In her talk, Rossella Fiamingo also explained how national team athletes “manage” meals abroad when they are busy traveling around the world for international competitions, talked about how over the years the aspect of nutrition has become increasingly important in the preparation process for high-level athletes, and answered the many questions that came in from the audience in a timely manner. The Vancouver event was particularly appreciated, and perfectly summarized the spirit and mission of the “Beauty in a Gesture” project, created to enhance “Made in Italy” in the world through fencing.

FEMALE FENCING WORLD CUP – Vancouver (Canada), Dec. 8, 2022
Table of 64 (Saturday)
Marzani (ITA) – Epee (Fra)
Clerici (ITA) – Navarria (ITA)
Isola (ITA) – Swatowska (Pol)
Cagnin (ITA) – Sersot (Fra)
Bozza (ITA) – Lee (Kor)
Fiamingo (ITA) – Xiao (Can)
Foietta (ITA) – Differt (Est)
Kowalczyk (ITA) – Guzzi Vincenti (Usa)
Rizzi (ITA) – Kuusk (East)