Borel and Szasz-Kovacs secure final golds of FIE Grand Prix season

Borel beat Korea’s Byeungchan Jung to win the men’s individual competition, whilst Szasz-Kovacs overcame USA’s Courtney Hurley in the women’s equivalent.

This final Grand Prix of the FIE’s nine-event series for the 2017-2018 FIE season saw more than 230 fencers compete at the Pacific Valley Events Centre in Cali.

Borel claimed his second Grand Prix title after a sterling performance in the men’s competition. The French fencer, ranked 13th in the world took-out fourth-ranked Max Heinzer of Switzerland 15-9 in the quarter-finals before edging past Korean Olympic gold medalist Sangyoung Park in the semi-finals by a single touch margin, 15-14.

That brought Borel up against the surprise package of the competition, 109th-ranked Jung, and it was here the Korean’s impressive run came to end as the Frenchman’s experience eventually told winning 15-10. For Jung, there was the consolation of the silver medal and what as a fine career-best finish which included beating France’s Daniel Jerent in the semi-final 15-11. That victory was brought into sharper focus given Jerent had earlier narrowly beaten second-ranked Ukrainian Bogdan Nikishin in the quarter-final, 15-14.

In the women’s competition, Olympic gold medalist Szasz-Kovacs lived up to her billing as favourite by claiming her fifth Grand Prix win and retaining their title from the same event last year in Bogota.

The Hungarian beat two Italians on her way to the Final, progressing past Marta Ferrari 15-13 in the quarter-final and then Federica Isola, 15-10, the latter’s appearance in the last four being notable as her best-ever finish given her 189th-place ranking.

The Final brought Szasz-Kovacs face-to-face with USA’s Courtney Hurley and although the 26th-ranked American proved a worthy opponent, Szasz-Kovacs closed out the decider to win with a 15-11 score and take gold.

Hurley’s path to the Final had seen her defeat Ukraine’s Olena Kryvytska in the quarter-finals 15-10, and France’s Auriane Mallo in the semi-final, 15-9.