Italy's Andrea Santarelli, right, is the top seed at the FIE Men's Épée World Cup in Heidenheim ©Getty Images

Top seed Andrea Santarelli of Italy will face Canada's Dylan French in the last-64 of the individual event at the International Fencing Federation (FIE) Men's Épée World Cup in Heidenheim.

French came through the preliminary rounds today, firstly beating Switzerland's Elia Dagani 15-3 in the German town.

The 22-year-old then went on to oust two Australians, defeating Domenic Yates 15-14 and Alexander English 15-7.

His reward is a meeting tomorrow with 2019 world bronze medallist Santarelli, with a place in the last-32 at stake.

Second-seeded Russian Sergey Bida, last year's world silver medallist, will start his campaign against Hungary's András Rédli, who also came through the preliminary rounds today.

Preliminary-round action took place today in Heidenheim ©Augusto Bizzi/FIE/Facebook
Preliminary-round action took place today in Heidenheim ©Augusto Bizzi/FIE/Facebook

Individual competition in Heidenheim is due to conclude tomorrow.

It will be followed by a team event on Saturday (January 11).

Three other FIE World Cups are scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Cuba's capital Havana will host a women's épée event, while Polish city Katowice stages a women's foil event and Paris will hold a men's foil event.

All three FIE World Cups will be spread across three days, with the first two dedicated to individual competition and the last focusing on the team event.