We are happy to announce the 2014-2015 NYFA Youth Challenge Champions!
After six hard-fought battles, these athletes emerged as the top fencers of this season. Trophies were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd highest point holders in Y10, Y12, and Y14. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to everyone who made top 8 at the Mission SYC.
Together you earned 15 medals including 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 6 Bronze!
Mission Super Youth Circuit:
Jaclyn Khrol – Gold in Y12 and Silver in Y14
Skyler Liverant – Silver in Y12
Caralina Khrol – Silver in Y10
Bennett Cohen – Bronze in Y14
Anton Chmut – Bronze in Y14
Jordan Liverant – Bronze in Y14 and Bronze in Y12
Ethan Kushnerik – Bronze in Y12
Ian Goldfine – Bronze in Y10
David Pavlenishvili – 6th in Y10
Anna Temiryaev – 6th in Y10
Anna Lanzman – 7th in Y14
Anna Marinovich – 7th in Y12
Daniel Zaretsky – 8th in Y12
NYFA fencers earn compliments as well as medals! Thanks for representing our club and inspiring comments like these from other fencers:
“If he fences epee, take a look at the NYFA summer sleep away camp. The club itself has a large number of good young fencers, Y-10, Y-12, on up. DS is not at that club, but we run into them everywhere. They’re an especially fun group and take their fencing seriously – a good combination.” (http://www.fencing.net/forums/thread79392.html)
Brooklyn, NY (April 25, 2015) – Romain Cannone (New York, NY) finished his first season on the junior world circuit by capturing the silver team medal at the Fencing World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan earlier this month. Cannone, who trains in Coney Island, Brooklyn, fences for the French national team, which finished second out of 35 countries competing in the men’s epee team event. Cannone previously earned a gold team medal at the European Championship in Maribor, Slovenia in March, and a bronze individual medal at the World Cup in Basel, Switzerland in February.
Romain Cannone of NY Fencing Academy – Silver Medalist in Junior World Championship Men’s Team Epee 2015
At 17 years old, Cannone was one of the youngest athletes to fence in the Junior World Championships, which is the culminating event of the season for the world’s best fencers ages 20 and under. The team tournament lasts for two days with one day of rest in between. France began with a 45-35 win over Brazil to make top 16. Next, they faced Israel and won 45-38. In the table of 8, they continued to dominate by defeating Poland 45-34. According to Cannone, the most stressful match came on the second day of competition in the semi-finals against Hungary, whom they previously defeated to win the European Championship in March. The two rivals engaged in a very intense match, but France pulled out a slim victory over Hungary, winning by just one point in priority with a score of 28-27. In the final match versus Germany, Cannone thinks they were just too confident and didn’t fence their best. France lost to Germany 36-45 to take second place. This was France’s best finish in the junior men’s team epee World Championship since 2004 when they earned their last silver medal. France is now ranked number 2 in the world behind Spain. Cannone, who was not selected to fence in this year’s individual World Championship, is ranked 49th out of 629 athletes.
For Cannone, competing in his first World Championship was an unforgettable experience. “Right when you came out of the airplane you had someone to greet you and help you along the way until you reached your hotel. You could tell people were very aware of what was going on; when we turned on the TV at the hotel, there was a channel just for fencing.” In total, there were over 1000 athletes from 100 countries participating in multiple events over nine days, at one of the largest sports venues in the world. Cannone recalled “Tashkent was a very interesting, old city. The competition was huge, and one thing that was very cool were the hundreds of spectators that came to watch.”
Next, Cannone will be fencing in Paris on May 1st at the Challenge SNCF Reseau Coupe du Monde. For the best adult men’s epee athletes in the world, this prestigious Senior World Cup is the first step towards qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics. For Cannone, who just turned 18 on his way home from Tashkent and has three more years in the junior age category, this will be a great experience and preview of what fencing may have in store for him in the future.
Romain Cannone, left, France v Germany Team Finals, Junior World Championship 2015, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
New York Fencing Academy (NYFA) was founded in 2010 by owner and head coach Misha Mokretsov and is located in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. NYFA is quickly becoming a center for excellence in epee, with one of the strongest competitive epee programs in the tri-state area. In just five years, NYFA has produced many nationally-ranked fencers earning Champion and Finalist titles at International and National competitions, including a European Champion on the French junior national team. NYFA provides private lessons, group classes, and camps for students of all ages and all levels, beginners to advanced. Visit www.fencenyfa.com for more info.
