Isa Town, Bahrain -- Wayne State University men's fencing student-athlete Mahmoud Elsayed (Tanta, Gharbia, Egypt / El Nasr Official Language School) competed at the Bahrain Junior World Cup this past weekend (January 17-19).  The freshman appeared as both an individual, and as a part of Team Egypt, both in the epee weapon.  The event was hosted at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium.

INDIVIDUAL EPEE:
In individual competition, Elsayed finished pool play with a 6-0 record, and a +12 touch differential (29-17).  The Warrior received a bye in the table of 128, but would be upset by the eventual runner-up, Nikita Gorin of Egypt, falling in a close bout 15-14, finishing 34th out of 148 competitors.

TEAM EPEE:
Heading into team competition, Egypt was seeded first and received a bye in the Table of 32.  In the Table of 16, Egypt defeated Kyrgyzstan 45-40, with Elsayed capturing 20 touches in his three bouts, including an 8-4 victory in the final bout to earn the victory.

Moving on to the Table of Eight, Egypt was victorious over Uzbekistan 39-33.  Similar to the Table of 16, it was the WSU student-athlete who captured the win, landing 11 touches in the final bout and finishing with a +8 touch differential (21-13).

Egypt fell in the Semi-Final round to the runner-up, France, 44-43.  Elsayed had a positive touch differential once again (+5), tying his first bout 4-4 while winning his final two 5-3 and 10-7. 

UP NEXT
The Wayne State University men's and women's fencing programs will travel to South Bend, Ind. to compete at the DeCicco Duals, hosted by the University of Notre Dame.