Three International Fencing Federation World Cups took place this weekend in Busan (Korea), Fukuoka (Japan) and Vancouver, B.C. (Canada) in women’s and men’s foil and epee.
Busan, Korea Busan SK Telecom Women’s Foil World Cup, Dec. 5-7
Italy’s Martina Batini won the women’s individual gold medal at the Busan, Korea SK Telecom Women’s World Cup, and Italy won the team gold. The event took place at the Indoor Gymnasium in Busan Spo1 Park, with 197 individual women’s fencers and 20 teams participating in the competition.
Batini faced Japan’s Yuka Ueno in the final bout of women’s individual foil, winning with a 15-3 score. In the semifinal round, Batini won against teammate Martina Favaretto, 15-10, while Ueno defeated the USA’s Lauren Scruggs, 15-11. Of note, in the quarterfinals, Favaretto beat Japan’s world champion Komaki Kikuchi, 15-7; in the round of 16, Scruggs won against world champion and two-time gold medallist teammate Lee Kiefer, 15-14; and in the round of 32, Italy’s Irene Bertini won against teammate and two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-9.
Italy faced the USA in the final match of women’s team foil, winning with a 45-38 score. In the semifinal round, the USA won against the Republic of Korea, 45-24, while Italy defeated Japan, 30-20. The bronze medal went to Japan over the Republic of Korea, 33-32.
Final rankings in women’s individual foil included Martina Batini (ITA, gold), Yuka Ueno (JPN, silver), Martina Favaretto (ITA, bronze), Lauren Scruggs (USA, bronze), Eleanor Harvey (CAN), Anna Cristino (ITA), Komaki Kikuchi (JPN) and Zander Rhodes (USA).
Final rankings in women’s team foil included Italy (gold), USA (silver), Japan (bronze), Korea, Germany, Spain, Hungary and China.
Fukuoka, Japan Prince Takamado Trophy Men’s Foil World Cup, Dec. 5-7
Hong Kong, China’s world champion Chun Yin Ryan Choi won the gold medal at the Fukuoka, Japan Prince Takamado Men’s Foil World Cup, and Italy won the team gold. The event took place at the Fukuoka Kitakyushu Messe (West Japan General Exhibition Center) with 232 individual men’s fencers and 24 teams participating in the competition.
Choi faced Kirill Borodachev (_AIN) in the final bout of men’s individual foil, winning with a 15-9 score. In the semifinal round, Borodachev won against Italy’s Giulio Lombardi, 15-7, while Choi defeated the USA’s Alexander Massialas, 15-4. Of note, in the round of 32, Japan’s Yudai Nagano beat Italy’s world champion Tommaso Marini, 15-14, and Great Britain’s David Sosnov won against Hong Kong, China’s two-time Olympic champion Ka Long Cheung, 15-12.
Italy faced France in the final match of men’s team foil, winning with a 44-43 score. In the semifinal round, France won against the USA, 45-41, while Italy defeated Japan, 45-36. The bronze medal went to Japan over the USA, 45-43.
Final rankings in men’s individual foil included Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG, gold), Kirill Borodachev (_AIN, silver), Giulio Lombardi (ITA, bronze), Alexander Massialas (USA, bronze), Filippo Macchi (ITA), Nick Itkin (USA), Rafael Savin (FRA) and Daniil Kerik (_AIN).
Final rankings in men’s team foil included Italy (gold), France (silver), Japan (bronze), USA, Hungary, Egypt, Korea and Canada.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Women’s and Men’s Epee World Cup, Dec. 4-7
Italy’s Giulia Rizzi and Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed won gold medals in individual epee at the Vancouver Women’s and Men’s Epee World Cup, and Estonia and Switzerland won the team golds.
The event took place at the Richmond Olympic Oval, with 200 women’s and 272 men’s individual fencers and 23 women’s and 30 men’s teams participating in the competition.
In the final bout of women’s individual epee, Rizzi faced France’s world champion Marie-Florence Candassamy, winning with a 13-12 score. In the semifinal round, Candassamy won against Hungary’s Eszter Muhari, 10-9, while Rizzi defeated the Republic of Korea’s Taehee Lim, 15-8. Of note, in the round of 32, Lim beat teammate and world champion Sera Song, 15-12. In the round of 64, Switzerland’s Pauline Brunner won against Italy’s two-time world champion Rossella Fiamingo, 15-10, and Ukraine’s Emily Conrad defeated Estonia’s world champion Julia Beljajeva, 14-11.
In the final bout of men’s individual epee, Elsayed faced Israel’s Dov Ber Vilensky, winning with a 15-5 score. In the semifinal round, Vilensky won against Italy’s Matteo Galassi, 15-13, while Elsayed defeated Hungary’s world champion Gergely Siklosi, 15-13. Of note, in the quarterfinals Italy’s Matteo Galassi beat Hungary’s world champion Mate Tamas Koch, 15-12, and in the round of 32, Poland’s Damian Michalak won against Japan’s world and Olympic champion Koki Kano, 15-13.
Estonia faced Hungary in the final match of women’s team epee, winning with a 45-22 score. In the semifinal round, Hungary won against the Republic of Korea, 45-41, while Estonia defeated Italy, 38-35. The bronze medal went to Italy over the Republic of Korea, 45-31.
Switzerland faced France in the final match of men’s team epee, winning with a 43-42 score. In the semifinal round, France won against Hungary, 45-35, while Switzerland defeated Chinese Taipei, 45-32. The bronze medal went to Hungary over Chinese Taipei, 45-18.
Final rankings in women’s individual epee included Giulia Rizzi (ITA, gold), Marie-Florence Candassamy (FRA, silver), Taehee Lim (KOR, bronze), Eszter Muhari (HUN, bronze), Alberta Santuccio (ITA), Junyao Tang (CHN), Emily Conrad (UKR) and Milen Bavuge Khabimana (_AIN).
Final rankings in men’s individual epee included Mohamed Elsayed (EGY, gold), Dov Ber Vilensky (ISR, silver), Matteo Galassi (ITA, bronze), Gergely Siklosi (HUN, bronze), Mate Tamas Koch (HUN), Kruz Schembri (ISV), Hoi Sun Fong (HKG) and Tibor Andrasfi (HUN).
Final rankings in women’s team epee included Estonia (gold), Hungary (silver), Italy (bronze), Korea, USA, China, France and Switzerland.
Final rankings in men’s team epee included Switzerland (gold), France (silver), Hungary (bronze), Chinese Taipei, Japan, Israel, Italy and Hong Kong, China.
The series continues with these exciting FIE Senior Grand Prix and World Cup events in 2026!
- Fujairah, UAE Women’s & Men’s Epee World Cup – January 8-11
- Tunis, Tunisia Sabre Grand Prix – January 9-11
- Hong Kong, China Women’s Foil World Cup – January 9-11
- Paris, France Men’s Foil World Cup – January 9-11
- Doha, Qatar Epee Grand Prix – January 23-25
- Salt Lake City, USA Women’s & Men’s Sabre World Cup – January 22-25
- Turin, Italy Foil Grand Prix – January 23-25
Complete and official results for these events may be found here on the FIE website. To watch the entire competitions, along with any other FIE senior event, go to www.FencingTV.com. Find official photos from this and other events on the FIE Facebook page.