Who will qualify in Dallas? Daryl Homer, James Williams and Jason Rogers are all in a dead heat!
The race for the US National Team in Men and Women’s Saber are going to come down to one final showdown next weekend at the Dallas World Cup!! (June 20-23rd…Follow it on my twitter: www.twitter.com/timmorehouse)
In Men’s Saber, Ben Igoe and Tim Morehouse have safely secured the 1-2 spots and the final 2 spots will come down to a battle between Beijing Olympians James Williams and Jason Rogers and Jr. World Championship Bronze Medalist Daryl Homer.
If you want the gory detailed explanation of points keep reading! (But be warned this system isn’t easy to get!!)
As the US Fencing Website so aptly says, “The USFA Point System is Complex” so I will attempt to break it down in regular sports terms!
Essentially, the 3 fencers are in a near tie for the final 2 qualification spots with James and Daryl owning the “tie-breaker” over Rogers. Jason Rogersis currently 5th, but with less than 100 points separating each of them it means that if two of them make the 2nd day and one does not then the person that does not make the 2nd day would be 5th. If any two fencers advance one round past the other than they will qualify. If all three fencers finish in the 64 then James Williams and Daryl Homer will qualify. If all 3 make the top-32 then their seeding will start to come into play so if one of them finishes 19th versus 31st for example then that is enough for one to pass the other. Since Rogers is 5th he would need to have a stronger seeding over Homer or Williams to qualify in this scenario. Get it? (wheeew!)
In women’s saber, the race isn’t quite as tight, but the door for Alexis Jemal or Carline Vlolka to pass Monica Aksamit or Daria Schneider is there. (Dagmara Wozniak and Marielare mathematically qualified) For Jemal or Vlolka to pass Schneider to Aksamit they will need to make at least a top-32, with Schneider or Aksamit not qualifying for the 2nd day. if Schneider makes day 2 then Jemal and Vlolka will need to make top-16 to pass. If Schneider makes top-32 then Jemal/Vlolka will need to make top-8 to pass since a top-16 won’t be enough in this case. (Top 64= approx. 200points , top 32 = approx 650 points, top-16 = approx. 1200 points, top8=1600, top4=2000, 2nd 2200, 1st 2400)
Of course, the X factor is the Strength Factor! World Cups give more or less points based on the level of fencers entered. Men’s saber should be a 2.0 SF which means top 64 will receive points. 2.0 is the highest level. If it isn’t a 2.0 then no points are award for top-64, it only begins in top-32. All the scenarios I described above can change based on the strength of the competition since less points are award once it’s under a 2.0. I’m not sure how strong women’s saber will be, but in men’s saber the French, Ukraine and several other strong nations will be attending.
Bottom line, this should be a very interesting competition. Women’s saber will have at least 2 new National team members and men’s saber will have Igoe making his first senior national team with the up and coming Daryl Homer also striving to make his first over Olympians Williams and Rogers. (All coached by Yury Gelman by the way!)
Stay tuned! It should be a classic Texas Show Down!
POINTS BELOW:
| Junior | Name | YOB | Points | Point Total | |
| 1 | Morehouse, Timothy | 1978 | 7596.432 | 7596.432 | |
| 2 | Igoe, Benjamin | 1985 | 7165.888 | 7165.888 | |
| 3 | Williams, James | 1985 | 3688.488 | 3688.488 | |
| 4 | # | Homer, Daryl | 1990 | 3653.112 | 3653.112 |
| 5 | Rogers, Jason | 1983 | 3549.216 | 3549.216 |
| Rank | Junior | Name | YOB | Points | Point Total |
| 1 | Zagunis, Mariel | 1985 | 11816.76 | 11816.76 | |
| 2 | Wozniak, Dagmara | 1988 | 4631.878 | 4631.878 | |
| 3 | # | Aksamit, Monica | 1990 | 3530 | 3530 |
| 4 | Schneider, Daria | 1987 | 3228 | 3228 | |
| 5 | Jemal, Alexis | 1981 | 2544 | 2544 | |
| 6 | # | Vloka, Caroline | 1990 | 2341 | 2341.856 |
