Fencer Nelli Differt runner up in Qatar final

Fencer Nelli Differt made the final in impressive style at the FIE Grand Prix du Qatar, but went down 15:7 to Kaylin Hsieh, a rising star from Hong Kong.
Differt was just outside the medals at last summer's Paris Olympics women's epee individual event, and is currently ranked fourth worldwide.
She started the main tournament in Qatar with victories over Qu Xiaoxiao (PRC) 15:9 and Coco Lin (Hong Kong) 12:9, then beat two-time world silver medalist Federica Isola of Italy, 15:12.
This was followed by a 15:11 win against Alberta Santuccio, a member of Italy's gold-medal team in Paris and an individual world silver medalist two years ago.
In the semifinals, she secured another 15:11 victory against 21-year-old rising star Lucrezia Paulis, also of Italy, to make the final and the face-off with Hsieh.
Hsieh herself had earlier eliminated Irina Embrich (Estonia) in the quarterfinals with a 15:11 victory.
Embrich, 44, had beaten Edina Kardos (Hungary), Alice Conrad (France) and Tang Junyao (PRC) to make the quarter final.
Other Estonian women competing in the tournament met with less success.
Katrina Lehis and Julia Beljajeva, both members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medal-winning team, plus Kristina Kuusk, together took only one win in the main bracket, when Beljajeva defeated Aliaksandra Churskaya 15:9. However, she was narrowly edged out by experienced American fencer Margherita Guzzi Vincenti, 9:8.
Lehis lost 15:11 to Alessandra Bozza, another Italian, while Kuusk fell went down 15:10 to Eloise Vanryssel (France).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm