Pan American Championship
Montreal, Canada / June 13 – 18, 2017
For full list of results visit : http://fencing.ca/results/2017_panam_montreal/index.htm
The women’s epee podium featured three U.S. fencers with Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) winning her third career individual Pan Am title after a battle in the finals with her sister Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas). Their Rio Olympic teammate, Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.) also stood on the podium with a bronze medal.
Both Hurley sisters went undefeated in pools to stay on opposite sides of the draw with Kelley as the No. 1 seed and Courtney in the No. 2 position.
Kelley Hurley defeated Bianca Dantas (BRA), 15-5, in the table of 16 and Josefina Maria Mendez Bello (BRA), 15-4, to advance to the semifinals where she would meet Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA) – the former Italian World medalist who defeated Hurley in the individual rounds at the Rio Olympic Games.
“When I fenced her this time, I just said ‘I’m going to be aggressive. I’m not going to be scared. I’m going to push the whole time. I know it’s going to be tiring, but this is it. You’ve got to prove to yourself and everyone else that you can beat her,’”
With the score tied at seven in the second period, Hurley scored two singles to go into the third with a 9-7 lead. Moellhaussen tied the score at nine, but Hurley slowly pulled away in the final period, scoring three straight touches to end the bout.
“That was redemption for the Olympics. I was just a deer in headlights at the Olympics. I have a good game against her and I usually fence her pretty well, but at the Olympics it just didn’t go well at all,” Hurley said. “So I just did what I wish I had done at the Olympics.”
The created the fourth All-Hurley individual final at the Pan Am Championships in the last seven years with Courtney winning gold in 2013 and 2014 and Kelley taking the 2011 title.
In the previous round, Courtney fenced Holmes in the semis, taking a 5-0 lead in the first period before winning the bout, 15-8, in the second.
The win followed another bout of U.S. teammates in which Holmes fenced 2014 Pan Am bronze medalist Anna van Brummen (Houston, Texas) in the quarters. The Princeton teammates fenced in the NCAA finals as seniors in March with van Brummen taking the win. This time, Holmes came away with the victory in a tight bout that featured 10 doubles with Holmes breaking away on the final touch to win the bout, 15-14.
With a bronze medal secured for Holmes, the final would come down to another tight bout between the Hurley sisters.
Kelley led for most of the first period before Courtney took the lead at 13-12. Kelley answered with a pair of singles to go into the second at 14-13. One more single would be all Kelley would need to win the bout, 15-13, and match her younger sister’s career Pan Am titles history of three gold medals with a third of her own.
“It felt really great, especially fencing my sister in the final match. We can’t wish for a better circumstance than fencing each other in the gold medal match,” Kelley Hurley said. “We were so nervous at the beginning of the day because this competition is extremely important for Courtney and I … But we couldn’t have done better if we planned it out. It means a lot. It means that moving to Houston and all the training we’ve been doing has been paying off.”
Like men’s foil, the world’s women’s epeeists also received notification last week that their team event would be held in Tokyo – giving the Hurleys an opportunity to return to the podium after winning bronze in London with Kelley training for her fourth Olympic Games and Courtney aiming for her third.
“When I first heard it, I thought it was a rumor and I thought ‘It can’t be true. It can’t be true.’ But then when Kate confirmed it, oh my gosh, if we would have had champagne bottles, we would have popped them and celebrated right there. I’m always going to remember that moment. It was such an important thing for us to be able to have a team and it changes the next three years,” Kelley Hurley said.
Final USA Individual Results:
1. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
2. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
3. Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
5. Anna van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
Final USA Team Results:
Kat Holmes, Courtney Hurley, Kelley Hurley, Anna Van Brummen: GOLD!!!!
-(source: usfencing.org)
