VANCOUVER, British Columbia — UC San Diego fencers Pia Huber and Sunny Sharma competed on the international stage this weekend at the Vancouver World Cup. The senior-level epee tournament was contested Thursday-Sunday at the Richmond Olympic Oval and featured 216 men and 169 women fencers.
 
Huber did not advance out of pool play after finishing with a 2-4 record. She ended the competition ranked 135th. The freshman from Maria Enzersdorf, Austria, also competed in the team event with Austria. They were eliminated in the Table of 16 by top-seeded Italy after a 45-38 defeat.
 
Sharma finished 4-2 in his pool to qualify for the Table of 128. There he defeated Hungary's Jonathan Hamilton-Meike, who also fences at Notre Dame, 15-11. Sharma was then defeated 15-12 by Ukraine's Roman Svichkar to conclude his tournament with a final ranking of 78. The junior from San Jose, California, represents the U.S. Virgin Islands in international competitions.
 
The International Fencing Federation hosts a number of World Cups every year. The tournaments contribute to a fencer's ranking, which helps determine qualification for future competitions.
 
UC San Diego fencing will be back in action January 17-18 when the team competes at the Philadelphia Invitational.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.