FE W F Individual Shanghai CHN GP 2016 Semifinal 01 podium BATINI ITA vs KIEFER USA

Her fencing really improved a lot this year, because of that she's not going to pre-med school and all this stuff, so she's focused on fencing, which is nice, and of course her and Garrick have been a good little tandem, I think they help each other a lot. Kiefer, world number four, qualified for the Olympic Games, and she came through Dushnese of France, Hampel of Germany, Kreis of Hungary, and then Zsibé of France. She's up against another up-and-coming, I suppose, slightly a couple of years behind Lee Kiefer, Martina Batini, in terms of her development, but she's pretty handy, world number nine she is. She came through Voldemuth of Austria, then Yakovleva of Russia, a good win there, and Korobeniukova of Russia, followed by Ebert of Germany, Ebert knocking out Miyawaki. But it is a case of little and large here, Lee Kiefer very diminutive, and Martina Batini, she makes Elisa DeFrancisco look short. That's right. She's the tallest one on the circuit, by far. Lee was able to get in close, don't make it happen. And that's going to be the key to it, who controls the distance in this fight? When you have two extremes here, which you do, Lee's on the shorter end, and then Batini on the taller end of things, that's what it's all about. At the moment, Kiefer dominating the distance, and when we talk about that, it looks like Batini's all over Kiefer, pushing her back, but actually if you watch, Kiefer's going in and out, in and out, she's not letting the distance stay the same, and that's the key to this game. Lee, when she's fencing at her best, is really very light and nimble, and so she really quick and darts in, and she's got an amazing sense of timing, and look at that quick movement, you know? And then of course, Batini was able to control the distance, and then she came out and picked her off. That's going to be the question, can she control the distance and then get her, or is Lee going to be able to get in close and then Batini's stuck? And I think we're going to see both of those things, because it's going to be who's controlling the tactics at that particular time. Up to that point, Batini was being dominated by Kiefer in terms of the tactical decision. Batini changed, went a little bit slower, and was able to pick up a counter-repost. Right. Now we'll see. Oh! Lee attacks. So Kiefer changes her mind again. Our referee here, Natalia Zivileva, controlling this fight. She's one of the Olympic referees, so it's good to have her here. Again, a counter-repost from Batini's face, but then... In close. Tightening it up. This is where Lee, this year, has really upped her game, because she's been able to concentrate on fencing. So you look at her movements, her, you know, in close, it made a difference, because she's been able to sort of up her training regimen. Great insight there, and let me say that a power repost fell from Batini, and where Kiefer perhaps would have stepped away at the beginning of this fight, she closed the distance right up, and that's always going to favour the shorter fencer who's got sort of less arm to manoeuvre in those close quarters. There's good variety from the American. I have a good feeling about Lee, she's really doing good, doing quite well today. Well, she's doing well here, but we've only had a minute of this first period, three periods of three minutes in fencing, broken up by two minute periods of rest, when the fencers can take on some fluid. Very good, again, closing the distance. The minute's breaks allow the fencers not only to take on some fluid, but also to talk to the coach. That's where your job will come in tomorrow, Greg. Right. Well, the interesting thing is, if you look at it, it's like one minute of fencing scores five to one. So, given this time period, if they keep it up at this pace, the match will be over in the first period, which is very different for women's foil. I think that usually happens when Lee fences, so, you know, bouts don't last forever. Yeah, she likes to get in there. Yeah, yeah. Which is actually much more fun and exciting, because, you know, sometimes you watch bouts just sitting there, slugging away, not really doing much of anything. She's going to make it happen one way or the other, you know. That's what I always like about her fencing, she's kind of got that excitement, you know. Yeah, get up and go. No mucking around. I mean, it got to the point, really, in ladies' foil, up until very recently, where it was almost like the fencers were scared to attack each other because of the counterattack and their attack into preparation. Well, it's also those chest protectors, which hopefully, eventually, the rules will change. They haven't got to make a sort of soft material on the outside of the chest protectors, which is something that had sort of gotten approved by the FIE. So, therefore, they won't bounce off, because that's a big part of it. And obviously, women's foil, they're required to have them. And so, sometimes, when the action goes really fast, they'll bounce off. And so, straight attack, no touch, even though it should be, you know... Well, we're having a technical issue here. Lee Kiefer has changed her foil. And the new one she's brought on appears to be bringing up a white light. Now, technically, that's a yellow card, isn't it? Well, no, because the equipment's been checked out. So, actually, it's not. It shouldn't happen then, right? If it's been checked out? Well, don't forget we're dealing with a wireless system. And it's not quite so refined, how do we say? Okay, okay. Diplomatically put there. Right. Okay. But it looks like now we've got it under control. A combination of factors probably brought that white light up with the replacement foil. So, replacement number two comes on, and that works. So, whilst we're in this early stage of the first semifinal here at the Shanghai Grand Prix Women's Foil Event, I've got to say something about where we're sitting. We often get to sit in strange and difficult places sometimes. I remember one venue we were sitting at the end of the piece, looking at the back of one of the fencers. That was interesting to try and commentate through a fencer. Here, it's not a bad position. The referee's about a metre away from us at the moment. And we're right next to the video replay screen as well. So, we'll be able to hear what the referees are talking about when they go for the replay. The attack still sticks with Bottini there. A big yelp from Greg, you probably heard. He thought that was an attack into preparation. That is an attack from me. No, no, no. Another one. So, this slow preparation from... Slow and long to see, to draw her out. But never stops, though. Right, right, right. So, she keeps up the attack. She's working. And then, see, that's where she catches it. And then you get in close, and then she'll zap in there. So, it's a matter of that fine timing. You know, getting the distance and the timing to go. Because Bottini wants to make that big circle six and flick the shoulder. And have space to be able to make it happen. And Lee wants to get in before she can pick it up. Counterpost fails from Bottini. But just as you say. Right. She's trying to make it, but then Lee stood up. So, it was hard for her to try to flick her. Which is funny, because Lee loves to flick. So, it's kind of... This is kind of strange for a short fencer, isn't it? See, then she closes it up. Yeah. Is there any question over Kiefer ducking her head here? I know you're going to say no. Well, I'm just saying it's not no, because she's actually squatting down. Right. So, as long as she keeps her chin up, effectively, she can duck her body. If she shows the back of her head, then that will be a yellow card. Bottini is a little bit frustrated right now, it seems like. Getting close. Pair of ripostes. She's controlling this fight very, very easily now, Kiefer. Right. I think the key, again, is the fact that she's able to keep her legs under her and move and still be able to control. So, even though she may not have it always, she's picking her spots, whatever she's deciding to do. Yeah. She's switched over to the attack now as well. So, we have a variety of tactics. Bottini's been creeping forwards and creeping forwards. It's not been working for her. But even when she stands still... Look at that situation. Had she actually finished, she probably would have hit her. But she, like, pulled back. Bottini really doesn't know what to do here. All at sea. The Italian. You don't often say that in women's or men's foil. Wow, that was a nice action. Well, now we're going to have our first video review. Greg, you felt immediately that that was Lee Kiefer's. The referee did as well. That was a beautiful over the head. We'll see what they call it. Referee's back. Talia Zivileva comes up. And she still sticks with Kiefer. Right. Kiefer is just dominating this. And as you say, Greg, this may well be over before the first-minute break. And it's not light on. It's a lovely attack. Right. She's making that big circle six flip, and she just duplicated around it. Nice compound action there from the American. She just picked her distance and then made it happen. Seeing a little bit of dancing from the American as well on her feet. That's not showboating. It's just a bit more confidence. It's also that nimbleness, that lightness that she has in her feet. That's what makes her so dynamic. Fatemi just wants to attack. She needs to score a lot of hits to get back into this fight. And at the moment, she just doesn't have that feel. It doesn't feel like she's going to come back in. Yes. Another video appeal here. And I think she might have a shout, actually. She may have a shout at this one. We're right next to the video screen. This is a brilliant spot. I'm going to insist that we're in this spot from now on because we get to see the replay. And we get to hear what the referees are talking about. It's Villa Madda, the video referee, talking with the lead referee. And they're watching this in a couple of speeds. What's your thoughts? You're looking at this? Well, the question is, I think she didn't catch her blade. She's looking for the blade. And it's so big. She's making an action. So, I mean, it would be hard to change it. We'll see. So, they each disagreed. They threw it out. Yeah. So, here Natalia Zivraleva said, I thought it was Lee Kiefer's attack. My colleague on the video thinks it was Fatemi's attack. We're both great referees. I'll tell you what, let's abstain. Let's not make any decision. It's fair enough. Nice stop hit there. Lee started getting a little too ambitious. Carried away at 12-3. Can't blame her. She's got to see this out, though. No attack of target. Oh, referee has given that to Kiefer. And Fatemi does have one more appeal left. I felt that was Fatemi's. I don't know about you, Greg. Greg says nothing because he totally disagrees with me, obviously. No, I agree. We both felt it was Fatemi's. It was late, but Fatemi's sort of like hit the leg. Yeah. Somehow she accidentally clipped something off target. Referee acknowledges. She says, my mistake. It was your attack off target. It's Fatemi. It was really an accidental off target, but it's not off target. It's kind of like in epee when someone's taking an action and as they try and take the blade, they put their little finger onto their opponent's tip of their sword, which is why they always tell our players to keep the point near the guard. Oh, what a beautiful counter. She knows she's making a big circle of six, and she came back, counter flick, repose. But in mid-flow, going forward. Let's watch this. She's going forward already, and then there's the big flick. Lovely hit there from Kiefer. 21 seconds left. Is she going to do this in the first period? That's the question. Taking her time still. Doesn't have to rush. 13 seconds, let's see. She's being patient, which is actually smart. Of course, it's the right thing to do. No need to rush. You've got plenty of time. She's not getting overly too much, you know. And she's going slowly forward. So she's kind of being a little too conservative. But, you know, it's okay. It's okay because she's so far ahead. She's still got to get a little active, back into that activity, so she's not just going one direction. Broken time attack there this time. That was nice. For me, when Bertini's coming forward this slowly, it's really down to whether Kiefer can pick up a blade or, like you said, hit and close the distance and stop Bertini from hitting. Or disturb her, so Bertini doesn't know whether she's actually going to come to finish or to come back to counter time, try to pick up the blade. And then what she did was very good before, is that even if she kind of went out, she let her pick up the blade and came back with a counter pair of ripostes because the only place Bertini's going to go when she takes that six is flip the shoulder. So she's able to use that and come back. Boom, boom, boom. So she knows where the counter riposte or the counter parry needs to be after the high seeks to block the large Italian, the tall Italian from getting over on top of the shoulder. So if you're sitting in the American side, Greg, what do you say at this point? 13-4, do you just hand her some water and say, carry on, just do the same thing? It's not over yet, OK? So stay active, keep doing your thing, just keep fighting for your touch, one on another, and that's going to happen. The last thing you can do is become lackadaisical, become overly conservative, and then all of a sudden the other fencer starts getting a little run of touches, they get a little excitement, and next thing you know you're in a dogfight. And even though you may end up winning the match, it kind of puts a lot of stress on you, and maybe afterwards you're not quite as comfortable. Interesting. So the key is if you go with a nice active thing, you can finish it in a nice tight motion here. And if you were at the other end of the piece, what would you be saying, that 13-4 down? Slow it down, take your time, get it at the end of the slow strip, take your time, find your spot, and then either attack or she's going to counter attack. See? That was good. So Kiefer here, not sitting on her laurels. Don't just stick that. See, now she got a little too passive, because she should have let an opportunity to attack. So looking to close the distance. That attack's been given to Bottini. Probably a more chance of a video replay call from Kiefer there if the score wasn't so massive. Oh, that's lovely. Because she's making that six-second kind of motion. She saw it, and it's making actions nice and tight. Oh, a story attack from the American. And Bottini calls for a video. She might as well, but she's not going to get it. Yeah, not going to get this one, I don't think. Let's see, Kiefer looking on down to actually where we're positioned. She's holding back, looking for that motion. Bottini knows this is not hers. She knows it's not her match. Yeah, it's not her match. She's had better matches. And just like that, just under 12, 15, 13 seconds in this first period, second period, and it's Kiefer.