ALGIERS, Algeria, Nov. 18, 2018—Korea took both gold medals at the 2018 Algiers Men’s Sabre World Cup by Ooredoo, in individual and team events. It was the first men’s sabre World Cup of the 2018-2019 International Fencing Federation (FIE) competition season, drawing more than 160 top-level men’s sabre fencers from around the world. The competition took place at the AlgiersHarcha Hassan Arena.
The individual men’s sabre gold medal went to Korea’s Hansol Ha, who beat Italy’s Luigi Samele in the final, 15-9. Both finallists fenced their respective teammates in the semi-final round, with Samele defeating Enrico Berre’, 15-13, and Ha overtaking two-time Grand Prix winner Sanguk Oh, 15-10.
In the men’s team sabre event, Korea overcame Russia in the final match, 45-31. The Russian team beat Italy in a close semi-final match, 45-43, while Korea won against Germany, 45-40. Germany narrowly defeated Italy for the bronze medal, 45-44.
The top-eight individual men’s sabre ranking includes Hansol Ha (KOR, gold), Luigi Samele (ITA, silver), Enrico Berre’ (ITA, bronze), Sanguk Oh (KOR, bronze), Bolade Apithy (FRA), Sandro Bazadze (FIE), Tiberiu Dolniceanu (ROU) and Konstantin Lokhanov (RUS).
The top-eight men’s sabre teams include Korea (gold), Russia (silver), Germany (bronze), Italy, Hungary, Romania, Iran and FIE.
Official results are available here, on the FIE Web site.