Winners emerge in four FIE World Cups, as battle ground shifts to Paris

May 20, 2024

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The International Fencing Federation has completed its 2023-2024 Senior World Cup competition season with four events in Fujairah, Madrid, Plovdiv and Saint-Maur, as athletes prepare for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Here are the results from the four World Cups:

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates Women’s Epee World Cup – May 17-19

Hong Kong, China’s Man Wai Vivian Kong won the individual gold medal at the Fujairah Women’s Epee World Cup, and Korea won the team gold. The event took place at the Zayed Sports Complex, with 193 individual fencers and 21 teams participating in the competition.

Kong faced Switzerland’s Pauline Brunner in the final bout of women’s individual epee, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Brunner won against France’s Auriane Mallo-Breton, 15-10, while Kong defeated Italy’s Alberta Santuccio, 15-8. Of note, in the table of 16, Korea’s Hyein Lee beat France’s world champion Marie-Florence Candassamy, 13-12, and Ukraine’s Vlada Kharkova won against Italy’s two-time world champion Rossella Fiamingo, 15-9. In the table of 32, Brunner defeated China’s Olympic champion Yiwen Sun, 15-9, Germany’s Alexandra Ehler beat Brazil’s world champion Nathalie Moellhausen, 11-9, and China’s Chen Chen won against Estonia’s world champion Julia Beljajeva, 15-10. In the table of 64, Kharkova defeated Korea’s world champion Sera Song, 15-10, and Beljajeva beat Italy’s world champion Mara Navarria, 14-13.

In the women’s team epee event, Korea faced Italy in the final match, winning with a 34-33 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Canada, 36-29, while Korea defeated Switzerland, 45-31. The bronze medal went to Switzerland over Canada, 45-39.

Final rankings in women’s individual epee included Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG, gold), Pauline Brunner (SUI, silver), Alberta Santuccio (ITA, bronze), Auriane Mallo-Breton (FRA, bronze), Alexandra Ndolo (KEN), Hyein Lee (KOR), Chen Chen (CHN) and Vlada Kharkova (UKR).

Final rankings in women’s team epee included Korea (gold), Italy (silver), Switzerland (bronze), Canada, Estonia, Poland, France and China.

Madrid, Spain Men’s Sabre “Villa de Madrid” World Cup – May 17-19

France’s Sebastien Patrice won the individual gold medal at the Madrid Men’s Sabre “Villa de Madrid” World Cup, and USA won the team gold. The event took place at the Centro Deportivo Municipal La Fundi, with 207 individual fencers and 24 teams participating in the competition.

Patrice faced Korea’s Hansol Ha in the final bout of men’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Ha won against Italy’s Matteo Neri, 15-14, while Patrice defeated USA’s William Morrill, 15-9. Of note, in the table of 16, Patrice beat Korea’s world champion Sanguk Oh, 15-12, and Morrill won against Hungary’s world and three-time Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi, 15-11. In the table of 32, Ha beat USA’s world champion Eli Dershwitz, 15-12.

In the men’s team sabre event, USA faced Egypt in the final match, winning with a 45-37 score. In the semifinal round, Egypt won against France, 45-40, while USA defeated Hungary, 45-42. The bronze medal went to Hungary over France, 45-38.

Final rankings in men’s individual sabre included Sebastien Patrice (FRA, gold), Hansol Ha (KOR, silver), William Morrill (USA, bronze), Matteo Neri (ITA, bronze), Ziad Elsissy (EGY), Colin Heathcock (USA), Bongil Gu (KOR) and Lok Hei Royce Chan (HKG).

Final rankings in men’s team sabre included USA (gold), Egypt (silver), Hungary (bronze), France, Romania, Germany, Japan and Korea.

Plovdiv, Bulgaria Women’s Sabre World Cup – May 17-19

France’s Sara Balzer won the individual gold medal at the Plovdiv Women’s Sabre World Cup, and Ukraine won the team gold. The event took place at the Kolodrum Plovdiv, with 152 individual fencers and 16 teams participating in the competition.

Balzer faced Ukraine’s four-time world champion Olga Kharlan in the final bout of women’s individual sabre, winning with a 15-8 score. In the semifinal round, Kharlan won against Japan’s two-time world champion Misaki Emura, 15-13, while Balzer defeated Greece’s Despina Georgiadou, 15-9.

In the women’s team sabre event, Ukraine faced Spain in the final match, winning with a 45-43 score. In the semifinal round, Spain won against Korea, 45-44, while Ukraine defeated France, 45-38. The bronze medal went to France over Korea, 45-30.

Final rankings in women’s individual sabre included Sara Balzer (FRA, gold), Olga Kharlan (UKR, silver), Misaki Emura (JPN, bronze), Despina Georgiadou (GRE, bronze), Lucia Martin-Portugues (ESP), Elizabeth Tartakovsky (USA), Luca Szucs (HUN) and Caroline Queroli (FRA).

Final rankings in women’s team sabre included Ukraine (gold), Spain (silver), France (bronze), Korea, Japan, Italy, Hungary and USA.

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France Men’s Epee “Challenge Monal” World Cup – May 17-19

Hungary’s world champion Gergely Siklosi won the individual gold medal at the Saint-Maur “Challenge Monal” Men’s Epee World Cup, and Japan won the team gold. The event took place at the Centre Sportif Pierre Brossolette, with 307 individual fencers and 29 teams participating in the competition.

Siklosi faced Japan’s Masaru Yamada in the final bout, winning with a 15-9 score. In the semifinal round, Yamada won against Italy’s Davide Di Veroli, 15-9, while Siklosi defeated China’s Zijie Wang, 15-10. Of note, in the quarterfinals, Di Veroli beat France’s world champion Yannick Borel, 15-8, and in the table of 16, Italy’s Federico Vismara won against Venezuela’s Olympic champion Ruben Limardo Gascon, 15-11, and Israel’s Yuval Shalom Freilich defeated France’s world and Olympic champion Romain Cannone, 15-8. In the table of 32, Yamada beat Hungary’s world champion Mate Tamas Koch, 15-11.

In the men’s team epee event, Japan faced France in the final match, winning with a 44-43 score. In the semifinal round, France won against Kazakhstan, 45-36, while Japan defeated Israel, 45-33. The bronze medal went to Kazakhstan over Israel, 45-29.

Final rankings in men’s individual epee included Gergely Siklosi (HUN, gold), Masaru Yamada (JPN, silver), Davide Di Veroli (ITA, bronze), Zijie Wang (CHN, bronze), Federico Vismara (ITA), Yannick Borel (FRA), Yuval Shalom Freilich (ISR) and Ryu Matsumoto (JPN).

Final rankings in men’s team epee included Japan (gold), France (silver), Kazakhstan (bronze), Israel, Venezuela, Ukraine, Chinese Taipei and Czechia.