Sarah Noutcha of France, the fourth-ranked fencer in a field of 169, defeated the 57th-ranked Choi Sebin of Korea, 15-11, to triumph at the fifth and final World Cup of the 2025-2026 season in women’s sabre at Polidepotivo 3 in Lima, Peru.
With the victory, Noutcha became the first fencer to win two World Cups in women’s sabre this season, having taken the gold in Salt Lake City, United States back in January.
After a rare 15-0 shutout over 68th-ranked Katherine F. Paredes Torres of Venezuela in the round of 64, Noutcha navigated through the bracket with some very close bouts. In the round of 32, she defeated the 24th- ranked Rao Xueyi of China, a bronze medallist at the Tashkent, Uzbekistan World Cup in March 15-9. In the round of 16, Noutcha edged 39th-ranked Kaneko Yuina of Japan 15-14, and then in the quarterfinals narrowly defeated 13th-ranked Araceli Navarro of Spain 15-13.
Noutcha had her finest moment in the semifinal when she scored a commanding victory of top-ranked and defending World champion (Tbilisi, Georgia 2025) Yana Egorian 15-7.
Choi was a giant killer in Lima, as she overcame three of the top eight-ranked fencers on her path to the silver medal.
In the round of 64, she beat the 29th-ranked Siobhan Sullivan of the United States 15-9. She scored a major upset in the round of 32 when she defeated the third-ranked Yoana Ilieva of Bulgaria 15-10.
After scoring a 15-10 victory of 109th-ranked Wei Jiaya of China in the round of 16, Choi then scored another major upset in the quarterfinals when she beat the eighth-ranked Alina Mikhailova of _AIN 15-12. Mikhailova had won both the World Cup in Tashkent in March and the Grand Prix in Tunis, Tunisia back in January.
Choi continued her remarkable day by defeating the fifth-ranked Sugar Katinka Battai of Hungary, winner of the last World Cup in Athens, Greece in April 15-12.
Both Egorian and Battai took bronze medals.
Other than Egorian, it was a particularly rough day for the other three World Championship medallists from Tbilisi 2025, as all three were eliminated in the round of 64.
Tbilisi silver medallist Zuzanna Cieslar of Poland, the 14th seed, lost to Kaneko of Japan 15-10. The seventh-ranked Alina Komashchuk fell to Ozaki Seri 15-13, while the other bronze medallist, 17th-ranked Pan Qimaio, who won both the Junior and Cadet World championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in April, was beaten by her countrymate Wei 15-14.
Final Rankings – Women’s Individual Sabre
Sarah Noutcha (FRA, Gold)
Choi Sebin (KOR, Silver
Yana Egorian (_AIN, Bronze)
Sugar Katinka Battai (HUN, Bronze)
Alina Mikhailova (_AIN)
Araceli Navarro (ESP)
Toscane Tori (FRA)
Mariella Viale (ITA)