Gu claims gold, Homer breaks the Top 10

Gu fencing Dolniceanu in the finals via Yahoo News

One week ago Bongil Gu (KOR) claimed gold at the World Cup in Warsaw, Poland and remains the #1 Men’s Saberist in the World. However the day was full of upsets for other top fencers, starting with 2^nd ranked Alexey Yakimenko (RUS) being defeated in the Table of 32 by 18^th ranked Mojtaba Abedini (IRI) in a tight 14-15 match. Abedini went on to win his next match over Woo Young Won (KOR) 15-10, but lost to Tiberiu Dolniceanu (ROU) in another close match.

3^rd ranked Aldo Montano (ITA) suffered a similar fate to Yakimenko, being knocked out in a one-point match by current 52^nd ranked Nikolasz Iliasz (HUN) in the Table of 16. However, Yakimenko and Montano retained their respective world rankings coming out of the tournament.

Iliasz touch on Montano in the Table of 16, gif via brutalbrian on reddit

Iliasz did not end up fencing his quarter-final match, giving his teammate Aron Szilagyi (HUN) an automatic victory and spot on the podium. Szilagyi went on to fence Gu in the semis and lost 10-15.

4^th ranked Junghwan Kim (KOR) also had a disappointing finish when he lost in the Table of 32 to 34^th ranked Luca Curatoli (ITA) 10-15.

Curatoli fencing Tiberiu in Semis via Mario Cerasari

Curatoli went on to fence Alexander Crutchett (GBR) and won 15-7, and then against his teammate Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA) who he bested 15-9. In the semis he lost 14-15 to Dolniceanu. Dolniceanu lost to Gu in the final match 8-15.

Daryl Homer (USA) had a very good day, placing 10^th in the competition after being knocked out by Enrico Berre (ITA) 13-15. This finish jumped him from the 11^th spot in world rankings to #9. Other US finishes included Eli Dershwitz and Jeff Spear placing 27^th and 55^th respectively.

Top 8 Results: 2015 Warsaw Men’s Sabre World Cup

1. Bongil Gu (KOR)
2. Tiberiu Dolniceanu (ROU)
3. Luca Curatoli (ITA)
4. Aron Szilagyi (HUN)
5. Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)
6. Enrico Berre (ITA)
7. Nikolasz Iliasz (HUN)
8. Mojtaba Abedini (IRI)

Full results for individuals can be reviewed here.

Final Results: 2015 Warsaw Team Men’s Sabre World Cup

Team USA photo via Daryl Homer

The next day continued with even more upsets. Team Germany lost to France 32-35 in the top-16 and ended up fencing their way to 6^th place, losing to Romania 42-45 in the fence off for 5^th. USA lost to Iran in the top-16, 39-45 and fenced off for 15^th against Poland which they won 45-38.

Top teams Russia and Korea met in the semis, where Korea came out on top after a hard fought 45-43 win. Russia fenced off for 3^rd, where they beat team Italy for it 45-43. Korea lost the gold to France 43-45.

Top-8 Team Results:

1. France
2. Korea
3. Russia
4. Italy
5. Romania
6. Germany
7. Belarus
8. Iran

Full results for the team competition can be viewed here.

Replays of bouts can be found on Fencing Vision’s YouTube channel.