WUXI, China, July 25, 2018—The USA women’s epee and Korean men’s sabre teams took gold medals in the first evening of team finals at the 2018 Wuxi Fencing World Championships. This was the seventh of nine days of individual and team competition taking place at the expansive Wuxi Sports Center Gym, the first time a full fencing world championship has been hosted in China. Both women’s epee and men’s sabre had 26 teams competing from around the world.
The USA defeated Korea in the final match of women’s team epee, winning with a one-touch lead of 18-17. For the USA, it was the first time in history to win a senior world championship in women’s team epee. Korea faced China in the semi-finals, winning with a 25-21 score, while USA beat Russia, a four-time team world champion, 27-25. China took the bronze medal against Russia, 45-42, making it the fifth time in six years for them to make the podium in this event.
The Korean men successfully defended their world title, overtaking Italy in the finals of the team sabre event, 45-39, despite a strong comeback by the Italians in the final round. Italy has won this event 26 times in history. Korea won last year against Hungary in Leipzig, when it became the first non-European country in history to win men’s team sabre at the world championships. Italy defeated Hungary in the semi-finals, 45-42, while Korea won against Georgia, 45-34. In the match for third place, Hungary took the bronze medal over Georgia, 45-36.
The top eight finalists in women’s team epee at the 2018 Wuxi Fencing World Championships include USA (gold), Korea (silver), China (bronze), Russia, France, Estonia, Poland and Germany.
In men’s team sabre, the top eight included Korea (gold), Italy (silver), Hungary (bronze), Georgia, Germany, Iran, Russia and France.
Complete results from the 2018 Fencing World Championships may be found here for women’s team epee and here for men’s team sabre. Complete event information may be found at the official event web site.