Fencing-Upsets galore as local hopes lie in tatters

PARIS : Defending men’s epee champion Romain Cannone and Hungarian title favourites Mate Tamas Koch and Gergely Siklosi suffered early eliminations on a day of upsets at the Paris Olympics, while homegrown hopefuls failed to shine on the fencing piste.
Cannone was the fifth French fencer whose medal hopes were dashed on Sunday as cries of “Allez les bleus!” and renditions of La Marseillaise at the iconic Grand Palais had little effect on the home contenders.
“Fencing is like a chess game, it’s about anticipating others. I was surprised, I got touched twice in a row, and I immediately understood, it’s like losing your bishop and your queen, it’s hard to manage after,” Cannone said after his third-round loss.
“But I’m proud I got to participate. I don’t regret anything, there was some beautiful fencing, beautiful touches. Now I want to get a medal in the team event.
“What I wish for is for Yannick (Borel) to go all the way to the final.”
After receiving a first-round bye, world champion Koch lost 15-10 against Venezuelan Grabiel Lugo in the second round.
World number one Siklosi was beaten 14-13 by Belgian Neisser Loyola in the third round.
All French hopes now rest on Borel’s shoulders, ranked fourth in the world, who will face Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed in the semi-finals later on Saturday after claiming a 12-11 sudden-death win against Japan’s Masaru Yamada.
The other semi-final will feature Hungary’s Tibor Andrasfi against Japan’s Koki Kano.
In the women’s individual foil event, Italian world number two Arianna Errigo was knocked out in the quarter-finals by American Lauren Scruggs, one of three North Americans to advance into the last four.
Ysaora Thibus, Eva Lacheray and Pauline Ranvier of France all suffered early exits.
Thibus, who has a doping case hanging over her head, said she suffered from a lack of preparation.
“There were a lot of obstacles this season,” Thibus told reporters.
“I fought hard despite the circumstances, the lack of training, the lack of competitions. Psychologically, it was difficult.”

(Editing by Julien Pretot and Pritha Sarkar)