2000.01.21

SANTIAGO, Cuba - American Colin Parker battled his way to the gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Cuba on Jan. 21.

The win boosted Parker to No. 16 in the world junior men's saber rankings.

American Marten Zagunis, from Beaverton, Ore., entered the elimination round as the top seed and came out with a third-place finish. American Patrick Ghattas, also from Beaverton, came in eighth place. In the world junior standings, Zagunis moves up to No. 30 and Ghattas is now at No. 32.

Parker, from Fayetteville, Georgia, entered the tournament's elimination bracket competition as the fourth seed. He beat Cuba's Rey Carlo Guerra, 15-6 in the opening round of the elimination round, and then beat fifth-seeded Joel Fernandez of Cuba, 15-4, in the following round. That set Parker up for a semifinal match against the No. 1 seeded Zagunis, whom Parker also beat handily, 15-6. In the finals, Parker faced Cuba's Yunior Naranjo, the tourney's No. 2 seed. Parker won a hard-fought 15-14 decision to claim the tourney title.

Zagunis opened the elimination round with a 15-9 decision over No. 16 seed Lester Gonzalez of Cub before taking down ninth seed Imelso Bizet of Cuba, 15-9, in the quarterfinals.

Ghattas, the No. 10 seed in the elimination round, opened that round with a 15-13 win over Cuba's Julio Bello, the No. 7 seed, before falling to Naranjo in the quarterfinals, 15-9.