Top class fencing and history created at a 2018 Senior Fencing World Championships in Wuxi

The Championships, hosted at the Wuxi Sports Center Gym, in Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu province, marked new ground for China as it was the first time it has held a full senior fencing world championship. And the hosts did not disappoint with innovative lighting and digital displays used in the Finals arena all adding to the spectacle of some exhilarating individual and team performances by fencers who travelled across the world to compete.

The individual competitions got proceedings underway and Italy’s Mara Navarria and Korea’s Junghwan Kim took the first gold medals at the first day of the finals competition. Navarria took the women’s individual epee against Romania’s Ana Maria Popescu, 13-9, whilst Olympic bronze medallist Kim beat USA’s Eli Dershwitz in the men’s individual sabre final, 15-11.

Yannick Borel continued France’s impressive record in the men’s individual epee after winning the gold medal on the second evening of finals competition. Borel comfortably overcame Olympic gold medallist Venezuela’s Ruben Limardo Gascon in the Final thanks to a 15-4 scoreline, in doing so becoming the second fencer ever to win men’s individual epee at both the European and world championships in a single year.

On the same night, Italy’s Alice Volpi went one better than silver in last year’s Leipzig Fencing World Championships. She took gold and became the new women’s foil world champion, defeating France’s Ysaora Thibus 15-12 in the Final.

The third and final evening of individual competition saw Russia’s Sofia Pozdniakova win the gold medal in the women’s sabre. In an all-Russian Final, Pozdniakova defeated two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist and teammate Sofya Velikaya 15-13.

Italy’s Alessio Foconi won the men’s foil title by beating Great Britain’s Richard Kruse in the Final 15-8; the silver medal for Kruse earning Great Britain its first World Fencing Championships medal in 58 years.

The big news from the team competitions was the performance of USA women’s teams who created history in two events.
Their women’s epee team beat Korea 18-17 in the Final, in doing so winning a senior world championship in women’s team epee for the first time. On top of that, the Americans beat favourites Italy in the women’s foil, 45-35, also becoming the first USA foil team to win gold at a World Championships event.

France prevented a clean sweep in the women’s competitions, winning the women’s team sabre world title overcoming Russia, 45-35.

Switzerland’s men’s epee team earned their own piece of history, beating Korea 36-31 to finally secured their first gold medal having previously only got as far as earning silver.

There was better news for Korea in the men’s team sabre event as they successfully defended their title by winning gold in beating Italy 45-39.

Italy secured the men’s team foil by beat USA, 45-34