St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Ferenc Valkai Takes Bronze at World University Games
7/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
QUEENS, N.Y. - After a stellar junior season, St. John's fencer Ferenc Valkai turned in yet another great performance at the World University in Gwangu, Korea, with a third-place finish in the men's saber individual to earn the bronze medal.
Valkai was not the only Red Storm student-athlete in Korea as freshmen Andras Nemeth and Veronika Zuikova competed for Hungary and Estonia, respectively. Sophomore Cooper Schumacher also made the trip as he competed for the United States.
The Gödöllö, Hungary, native, who is a two-time saber silver medalist at the NCAA Fencing Championships, got off to a strong start in pool play with a 5-1 record to earn a bye in the round of 64. He would defeat Tom Zorro Jean Sietz of France, 15-13, before easily getting pass Japan's Kento Yosida, 15-5, to advance to face Korea's Park Junyeong in the quarterfinals.
Valkai found himself behind 8-5 after the first period against Junyeong, but he would eventually regroup in the second to take the narrow victory, 15-14.
In the semifinals Valkai met Russia's Dmitry Danilenko, who led 8-2 after the first period. The junior saberist was unable to make up the deficit and fell 15-6. Danilenko went on to claim the silver medal after he lost 15-12 to Korea's Song Jonghun.
Valkai's fellow countryman, Nemeth competed in the men's foil individual. The Budapest, Hungary, native won the gold medal at the NCAA Northeast Regional in March after posting a 17-6 record.
Nemeth registered a 4-2 record in pool play before heading to face Japan's Noriyuk Nagashima in the round of 64. After a close first period, Nemeth was down 7-6, but the Hungarian would come out in attack mode in the second to win the bout, 15-11.
In the round of 32, Nemeth was in the hole early against Italy's Francesco Trani and would eventually drop the bout, 15-7. Trani placed fifth overall, while Nemeth finished 23rd overall.
Nemeth was not the freshman to make the trip to Korea, as Zuikova competed for Estonia. She was the only female student-athlete from the St. John's women's team to compete at the games. The native of Tallin, Estonia, had a great rookie season for the Red Storm as she finished 12th at the 2015 NCAA Fencing Championships in the women's epee.
Zuikova recorded a 2-5 record after pool play and went on to the round of 64 to face Russia's Viktoriia Kuzmenkova. She remained close throughout the bout, but ultimately fell 15-11 to Kuzmenkova, who went on to claim the silver medal, while Zuikova finished 48th.
Schumacher finished in 43rd place in the men's epee individual after being seeded 88th coming into the competition. He started his competition in pool play, where he recorded three victories and finished ranked third.
The Pompton Lakes, N.J., native received a bye in the first round and was seeded No. 36 en route to the round of 64. Schumacher then faced No. 29 seed Yurii Taranenko of the Ukraine, where he kept the bout close but fell 15-11.
Schumacher had a great 2014-15 season as he posted 49 victories to lead the men's epee squad, and helped the Red Storm to a sixth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Fencing Championship in March. As a freshman, he was instrumental in St. John's third-place team finish at the 2014 championship and was named second-team All-American after an eighth-place finish.
