CAIRO, Egypt, Feb. 23-26, 2023—USA’s Alexander Massialas and Italy’s Martina Favaretto won the individual gold medals at the Cairo Men’s and Women’s Foil World Cup, with Japan and Italy winning the men’s and women’s team events. The event took place at the Club Plus Indoor Halls Complex at the New Administrative Capital, with 200 men and 164 women as well as 25 men’s and 22 women’s team participating in the competition.
Massialas faced Italy’s Tommaso Marini in the final bout of the men’s individual foil event, winning with a 15-14 score. In the semifinal round, Marini won against teammate Davide Filippi, 15-8, while Massialas defeated France’s two-time world champion Enzo Lefort, 15-7. Of note, Massialas beat Italy’s world champion Alessio Foconi in the quarterfinals, 15-13.
Favaretto faced teammate Martina Batini in the final bout of the women’s individual foil event, winning with a 15-7 score. In the semifinal round, Batini won against USA’s Olympic champion Lee Kiefer, 15-13, while Favaretto defeated Poland’s Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk, 15-8. Of note, in the round of 16, Favaretto beat teammate and world champion Alice Volpi, 15-10, and Walczyk-Klimaszyk won against France’s world champion Ysaora Thibus, 15-10.
In the men’s team foil event, Japan won against Italy in the final match, 45-43. Italy defeated France in the semifinals, 45-35, while Japan beat Poland, 45-33. The bronze medal went to France over Poland, 45-37.
In the women’s team foil event, Italy won against USA in the final match, 45-43. USA defeated France in the semifinals, 45-34, while Italy beat Japan, 45-26. The bronze medal went to Japan over France, 31-30.
Final rankings in men’s individual foil included Alexander Massialas (USA, gold), Tommaso Marini (ITA, silver), Davide Filippi (ITA, bronze), Enzo Lefort (FRA, bronze), Alessio Foconi (ITA), Alaaeldin Abouelkassem (EGY), Giorgio Avola (ITA) and Rafael Savin (FRA).
Final rankings in women’s individual foil included Martina Favaretto (ITA, gold), Martina Batini (ITA, silver), Lee Kiefer (USA, bronze), Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk (POL, bronze), Eleanor Harvey (CAN), Anne Sauer (GER), Pauline Ranvier (FRA) and Irem Karamete (TÜR).
Final rankings in men’s team foil included Japan (gold), Italy (silver), France (bronze), Poland, USA, Hong Kong-China, Egypt and Great Britain.
Final rankings in women’s team foil included Italy (gold), USA (silver), Japan (bronze), France, Germany, China, Canada and Korea.
Complete and official results for the event may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.