19. Men's Foil after Paris World Cup

Another Men’s Foil World Cup, another win for the USA team. But most importantly, 4 out of 5 events are done for Men’s Foil and we have a good idea of what the qualification places look like. Remember, you only count your best 4 World Cup results, so to improve your score at the last event you need to beat your 4th best result – I have included a column to show what that is for each team.

Russia needs 3rd to overtake Hong Kong, and take the final top 4 place. This would obviously be very positive for Germany, who would then take the European Zonal place. If Hong Kong finish 4th, Russia would need silver. A strong Korea result would also spoil German hopes.

If Russia don’t win a medal, then Germany would need to win the final world cup to have a chance of qualification (244 – 203 + 20 = 64). If Russia finish 6th or better they are mathematically qualified. It also leaves a glimmer of hope for Great Britain, who would need a gold or silver medal, Russia to win a medal, and both Hong Kong and Korea to underperform.

Japan also need to win the last world cup to overtake Korea (250 – 215 + 19 = 54) or Hong Kong. I suspect they’ll use their zonal places though. China could also overtake Korea with a win (250 – 209 + 23 = 64).

Brazil need to finish 4th to overtake Canada. The Canadian team will be happy with another top 16 finish, which gives them some safety in the rankings.

Marcus Mepstead (GBR) inched further ahead with a top 32 results, but his 5th result of 3 points means he'll now have to get deep into the tableau if he wants to improve.

Alexander Choupinitch (CZE) closed the gap to Benjamin Kleibrink (GER) with a strong 8th place finish. He's now only 8 points behind (plus 3).

Neither Carlos Llavador (ESP) or Michael Siess (POL) could make it to the second day.

Otherwise it's all quite stable in Men's Foil - although we still have two Grand Prix left to go!