Nikishin and Szasz-Kovacs to lead world class epee field at Westend Grand Prix in Budpaest

Over 500 international epee fencers will be making their way to the Romanian capital for the latest in the International Fencing Federation (FIE) nine-city series of grand prix events for the 2017-2018 season.

The three-day tournament will be held in the MOM Sport Hall in Budapest and feature the best men’s and women’s foil fencers in the world,

The men’s competition promises to be a tightly fought contest with nine of the top ten ranked epee fencers in action.

The number one seed Paolo Pizzo will be missing but his absence opens the door for the likes of Nikishin (ranked two in the world), Jinsun Jung of Korea (ranked three), Marco Fichera of Italy (four), Yannick Borel of France (five) to take the prestigious title.

Jung goes into the competition looking to retain the title he won so convincingly last year in Budapest when beating Japan’s Kazuyasu Minobe, who also returns hoping to go one better and improve on his current number ten world ranking position.

Minobe will however head to Budapest on the back of a recent notable success when beating Nikishin in Heidenheim, Germany back in January. However the Ukrainian will be buoyed by a more recent triumph after winning the World Cup event in Vancouver, Canada, last month. Both will also be joined by two other Koreans – Kyoungdoo Park and Sangyoung Park – also sitting in the top ten rankings at present ranked six and eight respectively, plus France’s Daniel Jerent (ranked seven) and Hungary’s Andras Redli (nine).

The women’s competition will also be a tough one to call with all of top ten ranked epee fencers in action, and 17 from the current top 20. They will be led by world number one ranked Emese Szasz-Kovacs of Hungary, along with Estonia’s Julia Beljajeva (ranked two), Russia’s Tatiana Gudkova (three), Ukraine’s Olena Kryvytska (four) and China’s Ywen Sun.

Italy’s Rossella Fiamingo, currently ranked 13 in the world, will be out to defend her title from last year when she beat Korea’s Injeong Choi, who also returns and is currently ranked two places above the defending champion at 11.

If current form is anything to go by, look out for China’s Mingye Zhu and France’s Coraline Vitalis. Zhu (ranked 14) won the women’s epee World Cup event in Barcelona, Spain last month, whilst Vitalis (ranked 25) was successful in Havana, Cuba in January, and both will go into battle in Budapest in good touch.

The men’s preliminary rounds get matters underway on Friday, ahead of the women’s preliminary rounds on Saturday. The weekend’s action is then set for a thrilling conclusion on Sunday with the table of 64 and finals sessions in both the men’s and women’s competitions.