LAUSANNE, Switz., Nov. 7-10, 2024 – Three International Fencing Federation World Cups took place in Bern, Fujairah and Oran in the first weekend of Senior events for the 2024-2025 competition season.
Bern, Switzerland Men’s Epee World Cup – November 8-10
Hungary’s world champion Mate Tamas Koch won the individual gold at the Bern Men’s Epee World Cup and Hungary won the team gold medal. The event took place at the Bern Mobiliar Arena with 321 individual fencers and 35 teams participating in the competition.
Koch faced Italy’s Giacomo Paolini in the final bout of men’s individual epee, winning with a 15-9 score. In the semifinal round, Paolini won against teammate Matteo Galassi, 15-6, while Koch defeated China’s Xinkun Zhang, 15-14. Of note, in the quarterfinals, Paolini beat Japan’s Olympic champion Koki Kano, 15-8.
Hungary faced Japan in the final match of men’s team epee, winning with a 34-27 score. In the semifinal round, Japan won against Italy, 45-30, while Hungary defeated France, 45-41. The bronze medal went to France over Italy, 39-29.
Final rankings in men’s individual epee included Mate Tamas Koch (HUN, gold), Giacomo Paolini (ITA, silver), Matteo Galassi (ITA, bronze), Xinkun Zhang (CHN, bronze), Koki Kano (JPN), Mahmoud Elsayed (EGY), Ryu Matsumoto (JPN) and Giulio Gaetani (ITA).
Final rankings in men’s team epee included Hungary (gold), Japan (silver), France (bronze), Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.
Fujairah, United Arab Emirates Women’s Epee World Cup – November 8-10
Italy’s Sara Maria Kowalczyk won the individual gold at the Fujairah Women’s Epee World Cup and Estonia won the team gold medal. The event took place at the Zayed Sports Complex with 194 individual fencers and 24 teams participating in the competition.
Kowalczyk faced teammate Giulia Rizzi in the final bout of women’s individual epee, winning with a 15-10 score. In the semifinal round, Rizzi won against France’s Lauren Rembi, 13-7, while Kowalczyk defeated Estonia’s Irina Embrich, 15-12. Of note, in the round of 16 Estonia’s Irina Embrich beat teammate and world champion Julia Beljajeva, 15-8.
Estonia faced Italy in the final match of women’s team epee, winning with a 45-34 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against USA, 45-34, while Estonia defeated China, 40-29. The bronze medal went to USA over China, 45-38.
Final rankings in women’s individual epee included Sara Maria Kowalczyk (ITA, gold), Giulia Rizzi (ITA, silver), Irina Embrich (EST, bronze), Lauren Rembi (FRA, bronze), Eszter Muhari (HUN), Katrina Lehis (EST), Jade Sersot (FRA) and Taehee Lim (KOR).
Final rankings in women’s team epee included Estonia (gold), Italy (silver), USA (bronze), China, Korea, France, Poland and Ukraine.
Oran, Algeria Women’s and Men’s Sabre World Cup – November 7-10
Korea’s Hayoung Jeon and France’s Sebastien Patrice won the individual gold medals at the Oran Women’s and Men’s Sabre World Cup and Hungary and Korea won the team gold medals. The event took place at the Miloud Hadefi Complex Omnisport Arena with 138 and 159 women’s and men’s individual fencers and 20 women’s and 21 men’s teams participating in the competition.
Jeon faced Spain’s Lucia Martin-Portugues in the final bout of women’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-7 score. In the semifinal round, Martin-Portugues won against teammate Celia Perez Cuenca, 15-5, while Jeon defeated Hungary’s Sugar Katinka Battai, 15-14.
Patrice faced Romania’s Radu Nitu in the final bout of men’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Nitu won against Korea’s Sangwon Park, 15-14, while Patrice defeated Spain’s Santiago Madrigal, 15-10. Of note, Korea’s Olympic champion Sanguk Oh had a medical withdrawal in the round of 64.
Hungary faced Poland in the final match of women’s team sabre, winning with a 45-36 score. In the semifinal round, Poland won against Korea, 45-41, while Hungary defeated China, 45-43. The bronze medal went to Korea over China, 45-38.
Korea faced Iran in the final match of men’s team sabre, winning with a 45-35 score. In the semifinal round, Iran won against USA, 45-35, while Korea defeated Italy, 45-34. The bronze medal went to Italy over USA, 45-32.
Final rankings in women’s individual sabre included Hayoung Jeon (KOR, gold), Lucia Martin-Portugues (ESP, silver), Sugar Katinka Battai (HUN, bronze), Celia Perez Cuenca (ESP, bronze), Yoana Ilieva (BUL), Luca Szucs (HUN), Jumi Wakita (JPN) and Enlan Tang (CHN).
Final rankings in men’s individual sabre included Sebastien Patrice (FRA, gold), Radu Nitu (ROU, silver), Santiago Madrigal (ESP, bronze), Sangwon Park (KOR, bronze), Pietro Torre (ITA), Enver Yildirim (TUR), Evann Jean Abba Girault (NIG) and Dario Cavaliere (ITA).
Final rankings in women’s team sabre included Hungary (gold), Poland (silver), Korea (bronze), China, France, Italy, Germany and Ukraine.
Final rankings in men’s team sabre included Korea (gold), Iran (silver), Italy (bronze), USA, France, Hungary, Romania and Germany.
Complete and official results for these events may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.