Italy’s Giulia Rizzi and Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kurbanov claimed individual gold medals at the latest Epee World Cup events, held in Wuxi, China, and Heidenheim, Germany respectively.
Rizzi Leads Italian One-Two in Wuxi
In Wuxi, Giulia Rizzi won the women’s épée World Cup title, defeating her Italian teammate Alberta Santuccio 15–9 in the final to top a field of 190 fencers.
Ranked fourth in the world, Rizzi responded strongly after an early exit at the Doha Grand Prix, surviving a narrow 15–14 victory over China’s Xinrong Zhan in the round of 64. The same round also saw the elimination of world number one Sera Song of Republic of Korea, who fell to China’s Sihan Yu 15–11.
In the semi-finals, Rizzi defeated fellow Italian Rossella Fiamingo 15–6, while Santuccio advanced with a 15–8 win over China’s Junyao Tang. Tang and Fiamingo shared the bronze medals.
Final Rankings – Women’s Épée
Giulia Rizzi (ITA, gold), Alberta Santuccio (ITA, silver), Junyao Tang (CHN, bronze), Rossella Fiamingo (ITA, bronze), Alexandra Louis Marie (FRA), Aliya Luty (FRA), Fiona Hatz (SUI), Jade Sersot (FRA).
China also celebrated success in the women’s team event, defeating Korea 45–35 in the final to claim gold among twenty competing teams.
In the semi-finals, China overcame Olympic champions Italy 45–37, while Korea edged Ukraine 42–40. Earlier in the competition, eighth-seeded Ukraine produced a notable upset by eliminating Olympic silver medallists and reigning world champions France 45–38 in the quarter-finals.
Italy recovered to defeat Ukraine 42–36 and secure the bronze medal.
Final Rankings – Women’s Team Épée
China (gold), Korea (silver), Italy (bronze), Ukraine, Hungary, France, _AIN, Japan.
Kurbanov Triumphs in Heidenheim
At the men’s epee World Cup in Heidenheim, Ruslan Kurbanov of Kazakhstan captured gold after edging Italy’s Davide Di Veroli 15–14 in a tightly contested final. Kurbanov topped the largest field of the season, which featured 371 competitors.
Tristan Tulen of the Netherlands, winner of the Doha Grand Prix two weeks earlier, once again defeated defending Olympic and World Champion Koki Kano of Japan, this time 10–9 in the quarter-finals, before falling to Kurbanov 15–9 in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final, Di Veroli defeated Paris Olympic bronze medallist Mohamed Elsayed of Egypt 14–7. Tulen and Elsayed earned bronze medals.
Final Rankings – Men’s Epee
Ruslan Kurbanov (KAZ, gold), Davide Di Veroli (ITA, silver), Tristan Tulen (NED, bronze), Mohamed Elsayed (EGY, bronze), Koki Kano (JPN), Jakub Jurka (CZE), Kirill Prokhodov (KAZ), Nikita Zhulinskiy (KAZ).
In the men’s team event in Heidenheim, France secured gold, defeating Republic of Korea 45–37 in the final to prevail among 40 teams.
France reached the gold-medal match with a 45–35 semi-final victory over the Netherlands, who had earlier edged top-ranked Japan — the reigning world champions and Olympic silver medallists — 42–41. In the other semi-final, Korea narrowly defeated Switzerland 41–40.
Korea’s run to the final included one of the competition’s biggest surprises, as the 16th-ranked team eliminated second-ranked Hungary, the Olympic champions and reigning world championship silver medallists, 42–38 in the round of 16.
The Netherlands claimed bronze with a 45–38 victory over Switzerland.
Final Rankings – Men’s Team Epee
France (gold), Korea (silver), Netherlands (bronze), Switzerland, China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine.
