WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 23-25—Korean men’s sabre fencers dominated the Warsaw Men’s Sabre World Cup, winning both individual and team events. The 63rd annual “Sabre de Wolodyjowski” drew more than 200 international men’s athletes and 24 teams. For world number-one Bongil Gu, this was his seventh World Cup gold medal, and the third time he has won this event in Warsaw.
The Korean took on Germany’s Matyas Szabo in the final match, winning 15-10; for Szabo, taking the silver medal was a best-in-career individual result. The German beat his teammate, Benedikt Wagner, in the semi-final, 15-11, while Gu took-on Iranian Ali Pakdaman, winning with a 15-13 score. In a very close match, Szabo also beat two-time Olympic gold medallist Aron Szilagyi (HUN) in the round of 16, 15-14.
In the men’s team sabre event, Iran and Korea took the finals piste, Korea winning the match with a score of 45-31. Iran had beaten Hungary in the semi-final, 45-37, while Korea defeated Russia, 45-24. The bronze medal went to Hungary in a close third-place round, 45-43.
The top-eight overall individual men’s sabre ranking from the Sabre de Wolodyjowski Warsaw World Cup include Bongil Gu (KOR, gold), Matyas Szabo (GER, silver), Ali Pakdaman (IRI, bronze), Benedikt Wagner (GER, bronze), Andras Szatmari (HUN), Max Hartung (GER), Kamil Ibragimov (RUS), and Bolade Apithy (FRA).
The top-eight men’s sabre team rankings place Korea (gold) first, followed by Iran (silver), Hungary (bronze), Russia, Italy, France, Georgia, and USA.
Full results for the individual competition can be found here, and results for the team event are here.