WUXI, China, April 8, 2025 – Romania’s Amalia Covaliu and USA’s Emilio Paturzo Gonzalez won gold medals in cadet women’s and men’s sabre on the second day of the 2025 Wuxi, China Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships. The 9-day, 18-event competition is being held at the Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center, and today’s cadet individual sabre events included 99 women and 107 men competing.
Covaliu faced China’s Qimiao Pan in the final bout of cadet women’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-14 score. In the semifinal round, Pan won against Korea’s Eunchae Jang, 15-8, while Covaliu defeated USA’s Xuanyi Zhang, 15-12.
“It feels amazing, this has been my dream”, said Covaliu. “I thought every day that I could become a world champion, and, look, I became one! When I left home, I thought this is my last cadet year so I have to stay calm and not feel the pressure, and that was the only thing I looked forward to today. The most challenging part was the match for the medal – the table of eight – there was a little bit of fear there, but I managed to get past it. My goals are to be world champion for juniors and Olympic champion!”
Paturzo Gonzalez faced Türkiye’s Candeniz Berrak in the final bout of cadet men’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal match, Berrak won against Iaroslav Borisov (AIN), 15-14, while Paturzo Gonzalez defeated Italy’s Leonardo Reale, 15-11.
“It feels great, it feels unbelievable”, said Paturzo Gonzalez. “In the finals, I started off really good, and over the course of the match I pulled through. Thank you to all my teammates, to everyone, this medal’s for you. I’ve been fencing for eight years, so this feels like a relief in my last year of cadets.”
Final rankings in cadet women’s individual sabre included Amalia Covaliu (ROU, gold), Qimiao Pan (CHN, silver), Eunchae Jang (KOR, bronze), Xuanyi Zhang (USA, bronze), Brynnley McKee (USA), Natalie Tsui (USA), Shuhan Yang (HKG) and Justine Saussine (FRA).
Final rankings in cadet men’s individual sabre included Emilio Paturzo Gonzalez (USA, gold), Candeniz Berrak (TÜR, silver), Iaroslav Borisov (AIN, bronze), Leonardo Reale (ITA, bronze), Michael Ene (ROU), Petr Taychenachev (AIN), Hiroto Morrison Barnard (JPN) and Julian Maklakov (GER).
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. Find official photos from this and other events on the FIE Facebook page.