Imboden and Deriglazova shine through to win foil titles at FIE Grand Prix in Anaheim

Imboden delighted his home crowd support and secured his first Grand Prix event victory by taking gold in the men’s competition, whilst Deriglazova was equally as impressive when securing the women’s event.

More than 300 foil fencers participated in the weekend’s International Fencing Federation’s (FIE) Grand Prix event which took place at the Anaheim Convention Centre and was one of the largest international fencing events to be held on U.S. soil.

In the men’s event, Imboden beat Italy’s world champion, Andrea Cassara, 15-10, in the final.

To get there, the 24-year-old beat Russia’s Olympic bronze medallist, Timur Safin, 15-8, in the quarter-finals before negotiating the semi-finals with a 15-10 victory over one of the competition’s surprise packages, Italy’s Damiano Rosatelli.

The 57th-ranked Rosatelli had a strong day defeating teammate and top-ranked Olympic gold medallist and Daniele Garozzo in the round of 16, 15-11, before producing another surprise result in accounting for world champion Alexey Cheremisinov of Russia in the quarter-finals by the same scoreline.

On a day which saw several upsets among the top ranked fencers, the 31st-ranked Nicholas Edward Choi of Hong Kong beat second-ranked and Olympic silver medallist Alexander Massialas of USA in the round of 32, 15-13, Egypt’s Olympic silver medallist Alaaeldin Abouelkassem in the round of 16, 15-14, and France’s six-time Grand Prix winner Erwann Le Pechoux in the round of 8, 15-4.

Choi’s run ended in the semi-finals as Cassara made no mistake in booking his berth in the Final with a 15-9 success.

In the women’s competition, Deriglazova defeated Germany’s Anne Sauer, 15-3, for the gold medal in what was a very one-sided Final.

The 28-year-old Russian and Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion was in sparkling touch throughout the competition and gave herself a shot at the gold medal by beating Italy’s Claudia Borella 15-7 in the last 16, before seeing off compatriot and teammate Diana Yakovleva 15-5 in the quarter-finals.

Deriglazova’s toughest test came in the semi-finals where she beat USA’s Lee Kiefer in narrow finish, 15-14, gaining some revenge from last year where Kiefer won this same event and defeating Deriglazova at the same stage.

For Sauer’s progress, her appearance in the final and eventual silver medal was her best career result to date. To get there she overcame the challenge of USA’s Nicole Ross by a 15-8 scoreline in the last 16, Poland’s Julia Walczyk 15-7 in the quarter-finals before overcoming her teammate, Leonie Ebert, 15-14 in a closely fought semi-final.

The FIE Grand Prix action moves swiftly onto Budapest, Hungary, this weekend for the men’s and women’s Westend epee Grand Prix.