Italy and Estonia claim gold medals to close World Fencing Championships in Leipzig

Italy’s men beat USA in the men’s team foil to earn their title, whilst Estonia’s women beat China to secure the women’s team epee event.

The Estonian women’s epee team are the new World Champions as they caused a minor upset by defeating the Chinese women’s team in the Final.

China went into the competition as one of the favourites having won gold in 2015 and also at the London 2012 Olympic Games, but the Estonian women had already gained a lead in the third bout of the Final and held on to it convincingly to the end to clinch the gold medal with a comfortable victory score of 45-33

Estonia had already underlined their credentials by beating Poland, 37-27, in the semi-final, whilst China powered past Korea in the other last four encounter, 40-32.

The bronze medal was taken by Poland, beating Korea, 33-28, with Germany, France, USA, and Russia making up the top eight.

Nearly 30 men’s teams from around the world participated in the men’s team foil competition but no one could stop Italy earning yet another title after securing victory over USA.
In a tight and often dramatic match, they managed to hold off the American challenge by 45 touches to 41 and by claiming gold added to a record-breaking total of 16 men’s team foil gold medals at the World Championships.

The Italians had earlier overcame France, 45-35, to make the finals, whilst USA beat Russia in the other semi-final by a wide margin, 45-29.

France took the bronze medal against Russia, 45-37 with Korea, Germany, Japan, and China filling up the remaining top eight ranking spots.