Canada's Kelleigh Ryan knocked out in quarter-finals of women's foil
Trio of Canadian fencers in women's individual foil reach top 16
Canada's Kelleigh Ryan has been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the women's individual foil on Sunday in Chiba, Japan.
The 34-year-old from Ottawa was defeated 15-11 by Larisa Korobeynikova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
Ryan's top-eight result comes five years after Eleanor Harvey of Hamilton, Ont. made it to the quarter-finals in Rio 2016. She placed a historic seventh, the best-ever finish at the time for a Canadian fencer in an individual discipline at the Olympics.
Before falling to Korobeynikova, who won silver in the women's team foil in 2012, Ryan upset world No. 8 Adelina Zagidullina of the ROC with a 15-9 win.
Three Canadians made it to the top 16.
Harvey was knocked out by the eventual gold medalist Lee Kiefer of the United States in a 15-13 bout.
Jessica Guo, a 15-year-old from Toronto ranked 15th in the world, was also defeated in that round. The youngest member of Canada's fencing team lost 15-8 to Arianna Errigo, the 2012 Olympic silver medallist from Italy.
"I was very nervous for my first bout of the day, but then I talked to my teammates and I was good after that," Guo said after her bout.
"Losing isn't good, but I am happy for my teammates for winning," she said, teary-eyed.
"I didn't think I performed my best. I was truly telling myself that even if I didn't do well people won't blame me."
Errigo was looking for redemption after Harvey knocked her out five years ago in Rio, but lost in the quarters to fellow Italian Alice Volpi.
In the men's épée, Canadian Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger was defeated by China's Dong Chao 15-7 in the round of 64.
Romain Cannone of France defeated Gergely Siklósi of Hungary for the gold medal.
It's the second day of fencing events in Tokyo. Hungary's Aron Szilagyi won men's sabre gold on Saturday, becoming the first man to win three consecutive Olympic golds in an individual discipline. China's Sun Yiwen took the women's épée gold.
Canada's Shaul Gordon competed in the men's sabre, but was defeated in the first round 15-10 by Mojtaba Abedini of Iran.
