LAUSANNE (November 21) – Olympic epee champion Park Sangyoung returned to the top of the podium this weekend with victory in the Buenos Aires World Cup.
The South Korean star, who mounted a barely believable comeback to beat Geza Imre in the Rio final, defeated Italy’s Marco Fichera 8-5 in Argentina for his first win of the 2016-17 season.
European champion Yannick Borel of France shared the bronze medal with his compatriot and the other losing semi-finalist, Jean-Michel Lucenay.
Borel and Lucenary had helped their country to team gold in Rio, but they had to settle for silver this time as Russia won the final 45-39. The bronze went to Hungary, which beat the Czech Republic 27-26 in the third-place playoff.
It was the second of five World Cup stages in men’s epee this season. (Click here for full results). Their next event is the Doha Grand Prix on December 9-11 before they return to the World Cup circuit in Heidenheim at the end of January.
Meanwhile, Orleans, France, hosted the first women’s sabre World Cup of the season – the Trophee BNP Paribas.
The London Olympic sabre champion Kim Jiyeon of South Korea was defeated by home fencer Manon Brunet 15-7 in an exciting final.
The eighth-ranked Brunet had narrowly missed out on a medal in Rio, finishing fourth, but fared better in front of her home crowd to claim her first-ever World Cup title.
Japanese pair Chika Aoki and Norika Tamura won the bronze medal.
In other notable results, Rio champion Yana Egorian of Russia was ousted in the round of 32 by Tamura, while the world No. 1 in foil, Arianna Errigo, lost in the first round. The Italian is competing in sabre for the first time in her career this season.
The team event in Orleans saw Italy beat Ukraine 45-33 for the gold medal. Hungary clinched the bronze with a narrow 45-43 victory over France. (Click here for full results).
The next World Cup event is in New York at the end of January, while the Cancun Grand Prix will be contested December 16-18.