Kamil Ibragimov of _AIN edged Pavel Graudyn of _AIN 15-13 to win gold at the Trofeo Luxardo World Cup in Padua, Italy, topping a field of two-hundred and forty-seven fencers.
In the semifinals Ibragimov beat France’s Maxime Pianfetti 15-12 whole Graudyn scored a convincing 15-4 win over Korea’s Do Gyeongdong. Pianfetti and Do both earned bronze.
There were three upsets in the round of sixty-four. Fourth ranked Krisztian Rabb of Hungary fell to 56th ranked Razvan Ursachi of Romania 15-13, 11th ranked and Paris 2025 silver medallist Fares Ferjani of Tunisia was beaten by 199th ranked Tanishita Naoya of Japan 15-7, and 12th ranked and triple Olympic champion (London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 & Tokyo 2021) Aron Szilagyi was eliminated by the eventual champion Ibragimov 15-9
In the round of thirty-two, 2nd ranked Jean-Philippe Patrice was defeated by 25th ranked Vlad Covaliu of Romania 15-9.
Final Rankings - Men’s Individual Sabre
Kamil Ibragimov (_AIN, Gold)
Pavel Graudyn (_AIN, Silver)
Maxime Pianfetti (FRA, Bronze)
Do Geongdong (KOR, Bronze)
Luca Curatoli (ITA)
Vlad Covaliu (ROM)
Santiago Madrigal (ESP)
Razvan Ursachi (ROM)
Meanwhile, Korea, led by Paris 2024 Olympic champion Oh Sanguk, captured the team with a thrilling 45–44 sudden-death victory over AIN.
In the final of the 28-team competition, AIN built a 20–15 advantage heading into the fifth of nine legs. The momentum shifted dramatically when Oh took control, overpowering individual champion Kamil Ibragimov 10–4 to give Korea its first lead at 25–24.
AIN responded and reclaimed a narrow 40–39 edge entering the ninth and final leg. Once again, however, Oh delivered under pressure, outscoring individual silver medallist Pavel Graudyn 6–4 to seal the victory in sudden death.
Korea reached the final with a 45–36 semifinal win over Hungary, while AIN edged Romania 45–42 in the other semifinal.
Seeded fourth, the Koreans produced a series of dominant performances earlier in the day, defeating Chile 45–16, China 45–34, and Georgia 45–37 en route to the semifinals.
In the bronze medal match, Hungary earned a decisive 45–38 victory over Romania.
Final Rankings – Men’s Sabre Team
Korea – Gold
Do Gyeongdong, Lim Jaeyoon, Oh Sanguk, Park Sangwon
_AIN – Silver
Pavel Graudyn, Kamil Ibragimov, Anatoly Kostenko, Dmitriy Nasonov
Hungary – Bronze
Benedek Dallos, Krisztian Rabb, Andras Szatmari, Aron Szilagyi
Romania
France
Japan
Georgia
Italy