Chinese men seize team victory at sabre World Cup

 　　MOSCOW, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China beat Russia 45-44 on Sunday to win the men's team crown¹ at the 2012 Moscow Sabre World Cup.

　　Facing the defending champions, the Chinese team of Zhong Man, Wang Jingzhi, Jiang Kelu and Liu Xiao, pulled off an impressive² performance in the final, said Zhong Man, the first Chinese Olympic champion in the men's fencing.

　　"We played cool and were in great form," Zhong told Xinhua after the final.

　　The Russians had once led 25-21, but the Chinese fencers caught up and made it 41-all. The host fencers fought back to lead 44-42 before Zhong turned the tables with three straight points.

　　In the third-place playoff, the United States downed Belarus 45-41.

　　Some 300 fencers from more than 40 countries and regions³ participated in the Moscow World Cup, which featured Grand Prix for women's individual and the World Cup for the men's individual and team.

　　The five Chinese men fared poorly in the individual event with none qualifying⁴ for the quarter-finals.

　　Chinese women's fencer Chen Xiaodong on Saturday finished second in the women's individual final, defeated by defending champion Sofia Velikaia from Russia 15-11.

1 crown   

n.王冠，王权，顶点；v.使...成王，加冕，居...之顶

参考例句：

• He won the crown in 1973.他荣获1973年冠军称号。
• They wanted to crown Caesar king.他们想立凯撒为王。

2 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

3 regions   

n.地区( region的名词复数 )；[数学]区域；（艺术、科学等的）领域；行政区

参考例句：

• A flying doctor service operates in remote regions. 在偏远地区有飞行医生服务。
• More powers are gradually being devolved to the regions. 正逐步向地方下放更多的权力。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 qualifying   

使具有资格的

参考例句：

• players who fail at the pre-qualifying stage 在预选赛中淘汰掉的选手
• A doctoral candidate is required to pass a qualifying examination. 考博士需通过一个资格考试。