WUXI, China, July 27, 2018—On the final night of nine days of fencing at the 2018 Wuxi Fencing World Championships, France took the gold medal in women’s team sabre and Italy won men’s team foil. Nineteen teams participated in the women’s team sabre event and 27 in men’s team foil. The championships have been hosted at the beautiful Wuxi Sports Center Gym, with innovative, extensive lighting and digital displays used in the finals arena. This is the first time China has held a full senior fencing world championship.
France fenced seven-time world champion Russia in the final of women’s team sabre, winning with a 45-35 score; this was France’s third time to take the title. Russian Sofya Velikaya now has nine medals in this event, with tonight’s silver. Russia narrowly defeated Italy, the defending champion, in the semi-final, 45-44, while France beat Korea, 45-42. Korea took the bronze medal, 45-40, over Italy.
In men’s team foil, Italy was victorious over USA in the final match, 45-34. This is the third gold medal successively for Italy, for the first time in its history; it has now won this event 17 times overall. As of tonight, Italian fencer Andrea Cassara has 11 medals overall in this event, including seven gold. The USA team, which won every world cup and the zonal competition this year, also took silver last year in Leipzig. USA beat Russia in the semi-finals, 45-29, and Italy overcame Korea, 45-30. The bronze medal went to Russia over Korea, 45-35.
The top eight finalists in women’s team sabre at the 2018 Wuxi Fencing World Championships include France (gold), Russia (silver), Korea (bronze), Italy, USA, Ukraine, Hungary and China.
In men’s team foil, the top eight include Italy (gold), USA (silver), Russia (bronze), Korea, France, Poland, Japan and China.
Complete results from the 2018 Fencing World Championships may be found here for women’s team sabre and here for men’s team foil. Complete event information may be found at the official event web site.