Ysaora Thibus wins first FEI World Cup event of the year in Algiers

Held at the historic Salle Omnisports Hacene Harcha sports arena in the Algerian capital, the weekend’s action featured more than 100 female competitors from 15 countries, including many of the world’s top-ranked foil fencers who all took part in both the team and individual events

In the individual competition, Thibus produced a fine performance to beat Korea’s Hyunhee Nam 15-10 in the final to claim the gold medal.

To get there, the French star had to negotiate the challenge of two Italians, first beating Valentina De Costanzo 15-5 in the quarter-finals, before accounting for the world’s top-ranked women’s foilist, Arianna Errigo, 15-10 in the semi-final.

Having beaten Poland’s Julia Walczyk 15-9 at the quarter-final stage, Nam defeated another Italian, Alice Volpi, 15-7 in the semi-final.

There was a better outcome for the Italian contingent in the women’s team foil event as they secured victory and the gold medal by beating Russia 45-33.

Any disappointment the Italian women may have had from the individual event was soon rectified as they brushed past Hungary 45-28 in the quarter-finals, before seeing off USA 45-36 in the semi-finals.

Having had the fortune of receiving a “bye” in the last 16, the Russians made the most of their passage into the latter stages by easily defeating Poland (45-35) and France (45-28) in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively to make the final showdown.

However that was where their run of success came to an abrupt halt as the Italians again underlined their class to secure the gold with an assured performance.

France defeated USA in the bronze medal match 45-33, whilst Poland, Hungary, Korea, and Japan made up the remaining positions in the top-eight teams.

The FIE World Cup action continues this weekend with women’s individual and team epee competitions in Barcelona, Spain, and men’s individual and team epee competitions in Paris, France.