SAN JOSEWORLD CUP FOR FENCING

When: Competition starts at 10 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Individual finals are Saturday, teamfinals Sunday. Where: San Jose McEnery Convention Center. What: About 200 fencers from 40 countries are competing in one of six Olympic qualifying events for men’s foil. They include all four medalists at the World Championships two months ago, and 14 of the world’s top 16-ranked competitors. Thirty-four individuals and eight teams will advance to the Olympics in foil. (The games also include bouts in epee and sabre weapons.) Qualifying for the Rio Games runs until April. The San JoseWorld Cup will feature 2012 Olympians Alex Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt of San Francisco, members of the U.S. team that won a silver medal at the ’13 senior World Championships. The Bay Area fencers are ranked third and eighth, respectively, in the world. The Olympic foil team’s other two fencers— top-ranked Race Imboden and Miles Chamley-Watson of New York— also are entered. In team competition, No. 1 Russia is the favorite, but should face challenges from No. 2 Italy and No. 3 France. The No. 4 Americans currently hold the final Olympic berth based on world rankings. But they also can qualify as the top-ranked Pan American region team if they fall out of the top four by April. The tournament this weekend counts toward individual rankings, too. Three of four fencers from the teams that advance to Rio also are eligible for the Olympic individual competition. The foil weapon: Foil fencers use rectangular blades that weigh less than a pound. Points are scored when the blade’s tip makes contact with an opponent and is recorded electrically. For information: www.usfencing.org/sfomfwc

— ELLIOTTALMOND