Song, Svichkar, Mikhailova, and Morrill Capture World Cup Gold
Korea’s Sera Song and Ukraine’s Roman Svichkar claimed top honours at the epee World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Top-ranked Song, the 2022 World Champion (Cairo, Egypt), led a field of 221 fencers, defeating third-ranked Katrina Lehis of Estonia—World silver medallist (Tbilisi, Georgia 2025) and Olympic bronze medalist (Tokyo 2020) – 15-11 in the final.
In the semifinals, Song defeated Italy’s Alberta Santuccio 15–12, while Lehis overcame France’s Diane von Kerssenbrock 15–11. Santuccio and von Kerssenbrock shared bronze.
The biggest upset came in the round of 64, where second-ranked Giulia Rizzi of Italy - winner of the February World Cup in Wuxi, China - was eliminated by 44th-ranked Wai Ling Chan of Hong Kong, China.
Final Rankings – Women’s Épée
Sera Song (KOR, gold), Katrina Lehis (EST, silver), Diane von Kerssenbrock (FRA, bronze), Alberta Santuccio (ITA, bronze), Eszter Muhari (HUN), Catherine Nixon (USA), Aleyna Erturk (TUR), Kaylin Sin Yan Hsieh (HKG).
In the men’s competition, featuring 272 fencers, Ukraine’s Roman Svichkar captured gold with a 15–12 victory over Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kurbanov.
Svichkar defeated Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed—Olympic bronze medallist (Paris 2024) – 15-7 in the semifinals, while Kurbanov edged Hungary’s David Nagy 15–13. Elsayed and Nagy earned bronze.
Top-ranked Gergely Siklósi of Hungary was upset in the round of 32 by compatriot Zsombor Keszthelyi, 13–12.
Final Rankings – Men’s Épée
Roman Svichkar (UKR, gold), Ruslan Kurbanov (KAZ, silver), David Nagy (HUN, bronze), Mohamed Elsayed (EGY, bronze), Koki Kano (JPN), Matteo Galassi (ITA), Máté Tamás Koch (HUN), Marco Brinkmann (GER).
In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Alina Mikhailova (_AIN) topped a field of 152 to win women’s sabre gold, defeating Bulgaria’s Yoana Ilieva 15–6 in the final.
Mikhailova, who also won the Tunis Grand Prix in January, defeated China’s Xueyi Rao 15–9 in the semifinals, while Ilieva beat Azerbaijan’s Palina Kaspiarovich 15–6. Rao and Kaspiarovich took bronze.
One of the biggest surprises was the early exit of fourth-ranked Hayoung Jeon of Korea, who fell to Poland’s Julia Cieslar 15–13 in the round of 64.
Final Rankings – Women’s Sabre
Alina Mikhailova (_AIN, gold), Yoana Ilieva (BUL, silver), Palina Kaspiarovich (AZE, bronze), Xueyi Rao (CHN, bronze), Jeongmi Kim (KOR), Lucia Martín-Portugués (ESP), Anastasiya Shorokhova (_AIN), Jiyeon Seo (KOR).
In Budapest, 19-year-old William Morrill of the United States stunned a 240-fencer field to win his first senior World Cup title, defeating Italy’s Matteo Neri 15–13 in the final.
The 20th-ranked Morrill beat France’s sixth-ranked Sébastien Patrice 15–13 in the semifinals, while the 61st-ranked Neri produced a major upset, defeating Hungary’s three-time Olympic champion (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) Áron Szilágyi 15–12. Patrice and Szilágyi earned bronze.
Another notable upset came in the round of 64, where sixth-ranked Colin Heathcock of the United States was defeated by Kamil Ibragimov (_AIN) 15–12.
Final Rankings – Men’s Sabre
William Morrill (USA, gold), Matteo Neri (ITA, silver), Áron Szilágyi (HUN, bronze), Sébastien Patrice (FRA, bronze), Rémi Garrigue (FRA), Antonio Heathcock (USA), Maxime Pianfetti (FRA), Mohamed Amer (EGY).