One of the most successful World Cups: gold, silver and bronze for Astrid Kircheis

With her full collection of medals – gold, silver and bronze – Astrid Kircheis was one of the most successful participants in the German Fencing Federation and the World Senior Championships in Daytona Beach.

From October 11 to 16, the fencers held the World Senior Championships in Daytona Beach, USA. Astrid Kirches from 1. FC Quadrath-Ichendorf was nominated by the German Fencing Federation for the epee and saber competitions in the 60-70 age group.
Chip contests were held initially. After a somewhat rocky start in the preliminary rounds, Astrid managed to shine brightly with four straight elimination victories and reached the final. Here she lost 10-6 to American Jennette Starks-Faulkner after an exciting battle.
With the silver medal and second place at the World Championships, Astrid Kircheis ensured a successful start for the German Fencing Federation.
Women’s team competitions were held the next day. In the quarter-finals, the German team with Astrid Kircheis managed to securely beat Australia with a score of 30-13. But in the semifinals, the fencers had to bow to the Americans, favorites 29-20. However, the women’s incentive was still great enough to defeat Great Britain 30-22 in the battle for the bronze medal.
Finally, the sword competition was held. Astrid Kircheis had a good start in the preliminary round and was the No. 3 seed in the direct elimination. After two successful rounds, she had to concede defeat to Sarah Osvath of Australia, the eventual vice world champion, 10-6. This meant ninth place, and the world champion in the saber competition was Frauke Holbein from Neuss, a teammate of Astrid Kircheis.
In the final team competition for fencers, the German team did not have a good start in the preliminary round when it started with two defeats. These problems were overcome in direct elimination. Great Britain was defeated 28-25 in the quarter-finals, the United States 30-25 in the semi-finals, and finally Hungary 23-21 in the final. With the World Championship title and gold medal for Astrid Kircheis and the German team, the World Championships concluded with overall success.