Eight teams will compete in the Olympic women's foil team event scheduled for Saturday, with Russia, Poland and Hungary being the top hopefuls to grab medals.
Women's foil team event was not included in the 2004 Athens Games, and in Sydney, Italy won the first place, followed by Poland and Germany.
However, the latest rankings of the International Fencing Federation has put Russia on top. The other seven teams are Poland, Hungary, Italy, China, Germany, the United States and Egypt.
Russia will field in Svetlana Boyko, Evgenia Lamonova, Victoria Nikichina and Aida Shanaeva while the Polish team groups Karolina Chlewinska, Sylwia Gruchala, Magdalena Mroczekiwicz and Malgorzata Wojtkowiak.
The foil, one of three swords used in Olympic fencing, has a flexible rectangular blade with a blunt point. In foil events, points can only be scored by touches with the point of the foil on the opponent's torso between the collar and the hips.
There are four members in each team, with one of them as substitute. The first members of each team fence against each other for three minutes, or until one team has recorded five hits, then the next pair take over.
This pattern continues until one team reaches 45 points, or the end of regulation time in which case the team with the highest total wins the match.
A minute of overtime is played if the scores are level, and the first team to record a hit during this period wins the match.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)