ATHENS, Greece, March 3-5, 2023—Hungary’s Sugar Katinka Battai won the individual gold medal at the Athens “Coupe Acropolis 2023” Women’s Sabre World Cup and France won the team gold. The event took place at the Athens Olympic Complex (O.A.K.A.), with 175 individual fencers and 25 teams participating in the competition.
Battai faced Ukraine’s four-time world champion Olga Kharlan in the final bout of the individual women’s sabre event, winning with a 15-14 score. In the semifinal round, Kharlan won against Greece’s Theodora Gkountoura, 15-14, while Battai defeated France’s Manon Apithy-Brunet, 15-9. Of note, Battai beat Japan’s world champion Misaki Emura in the quarterfinals, 15-13.
In the women’s team sabre event, France won against Korea in the final match, 45-29. In the semifinals, Korea defeated Germany, 45-25, while France beat Italy, 45-36. The bronze medal went to Italy over Germany, 45-40.
Final rankings in women’s individual sabre included Sugar Katinka Battai (HUN, gold), Olga Kharlan (UKR, silver), Manon Apithy-Brunet (FRA, bronze), Theodora Gkountoura (GRE, bronze), Misaki Emura (JPN), Michela Battiston (ITA), Liza Pusztai (HUN) and Margaux Rifkiss (FRA).
Final rankings in women’s team sabre included France (gold), Korea (silver), Italy (bronze), Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece and Azerbaijan.
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.