Havana, Cuba.- A total of 175 women fencers, including the top 38 in the world rankings, will compete in the Designated Senior World Cup – Indiv & Team, Women’s Epee, to be held in Havana from Friday until Sunday, the Cuban Fencing Federation confirmed here.

Of the registered competitors, the leaders of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) ranking, Vivian Kong Man Wai, of Chinese Taipei and winner of the 2011 Havana Cup; China’s Sheng Lin, silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics; and Romanian Ana María Popescu, ten-times world champion and seven at the Grand Prix, stand out.

Cuba will be represented by it’s silver medal-winning team of the 2019 Lima Pan American Games, composed of Yamilka Rodríguez, Seily Mendoza and Dianelis González, joined by Yania Gavilán.

Of these athletes, the best ranked is Rodriguez, who appears in 127th position on the FIE ladder, and is set to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Panama qualifier, from April 18 to 19 this year.

The individual event will take place during the first two days of the Havana competition, while the teams will compete on the 12th.

Of the 37 nations represented, ten are from the Americas, and as such the tournament is important in the face of the continental qualifier for Tokyo 2020.

Fencers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa