PLOVDIV, Bulgaria, Jan. 23-26, 2025 – Bulgaria’s Yoana Ilieva and Korea’s world and Olympic champion Sanguk Oh won individual gold medals at the Plovdiv, Bulgaria Women’s and Men’s Sabre World Cup, and teams from Japan and France won the women’s and men’s team gold. The event took place at the sports hall Kolodrum Plovdiv, with 174 women and 231 men participating in the individual competition as well as 19 and 24 women’s and men’s teams competing.
Ilieva faced Italy’s Chiara Mormile in the final bout of women’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Mormile won against Spain’s Lucia Martin-Portugues, 15-8, while Ilieva defeated Greece’s Despina Georgiadou, 15-8. Of note, in the quarterfinals, Mormile beat Japan’s two-time world champion Misaki Emura, 15-11.
Oh faced France’s Sebastien Patrice in the final bout of men’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Patrice won against Korea’s Sangwon Park, 15-11, while Oh defeated Georgia’s Sandro Bazadze, 15-13.
Japan faced Hungary in the final match of women’s team sabre, winning with a 45-44 score. In the semifinal round, Hungary won against France, 45-37, while Japan defeated Korea, 45-36. The bronze medal went to France over Korea, 45-38.
France faced USA in the final match of men’s team sabre, winning with a 45-44 score. In the semifinal round, USA won against China, 45-32, while France defeated Korea, 45-42. The bronze medal went to Korea over China, 45-39.
Final rankings in women’s individual sabre included Yoana Ilieva (BUL, gold), Chiara Mormile (ITA, silver), Despina Georgiadou (GRE, bronze), Lucia Martin-Portugues (ESP, bronze), Misaki Emura (JPN), Nisanur Erbil (TÜR), Yuina Kaneko (JPN) and Xinyi Zhang (CHN).
Final rankings in men’s individual sabre included Sanguk Oh (KOR, gold), Sebastien Patrice (FRA, silver), Sangwon Park (KOR, bronze), Sandro Bazadze (GEO, bronze), Fares Ferjani (TUN), Colin Heathcock (USA), Jean-Philippe Patrice (FRA) and Musa Aymuratov (UZB).
Final rankings in women’s team sabre included Japan (gold), Hungary (silver), France (bronze), Korea, Poland, Uzbekistan, Spain and Germany.
Final rankings in men’s team sabre included France (gold), USA (silver), Korea (bronze), China, Romania, Canada, Georgia and Hong Kong, China.
Complete and official results for this 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. Find official photos from this and other events on the FIE Facebook page.