the_sword_july_2015

REPORTSeased to a 45-34 victory. The gold medal matchbetween Estonia and Romania started witha non-scoring period of non-combativity butRomania edged into a 7-4 lead by the end ofthe third leg. The score remained tight duringthe second third of the match with Romanialeading 24-21 going into the crucial final threelegs. Beljajeva and Kirpu of Estonia tried toclose the gap but failed as the Romanians(Branza and then Pop) opened their lead to33-27 going into the final leg. Gherman (ROM)took on Embrich (EST) and with the Estonianhaving to chase a high scoring leg followed.Gherman managed her team’s lead well andthe Romanian’s retained the title with a 45-35victory.Men’s Team FoilBritain’s hopes were high going into this eventas the team formed part of a twelve-strongfield. A comprehensive 45-30 victory overHungary in the round of 16 saw them face Italy– world number three – in the quarterfinal.A dominant start saw Great Britain (Davis,Halsted and Kruse) edge ahead 15-11 afterthree legs. As the team grew in confidence, sodid their lead and they went into the final threelegs 30-19 up. Italy were only able to scoreanother six hits as the British team claimedtheir biggest scalp for the past few seasons,winning 45-25.Great Britain faced Russia in the Men’s Team Foil semifinals.Great Britain faced Russia in the semi-finalsand the Russian team were ready for them.Akhmatkuzin, Cheremisinov and Rigin pulledaway from the start and went on to win 45-30.In the other semi-final, despite struggling in theearly matches France went on to beat Germany45-35.The bronze medal match between Great Britainand Germany was tight after three legs withGermany leading 10-8. Bachmann, Joppich andKroplin dominated the middle three legs and led26-14 going into the seventh. Great Britain wasunable to recover and Germany went on to takethe bronze medal 45-37. France started thegold medal match with the bit between theirteeth as Cadot, Le Pechoux and Mertine eased15-11 ahead. They did not look back and led 30-21 after six legs, going on to win 45-35.Men’s Team EpeeThe nineteen teams competing in this event didnot include one from Great Britain. The teamof the season, France, won the first semi-final43-34 against Ukraine and Estonia came frombehind against the home team, Switzerland,to win the other semi-final 42-41 in a priorityminute. Switzerland didn’t disappoint the homecrowd as they took the bronze medal overUkraine 39-28. The gold medal match was onewaytraffic from the start as France claimed thegold medal that everyone expected them to,winning 45-32 over Estonia.Women’s Team SabreEleven teams took part in this event but didnot include one from Great Britain. The topfour seeds all made the semi-finals whichsaw France beat Italy 45-42 and Russia beatUkraine 45-31. A brave effort from the Italianteam in the bronze medal match saw themcling on to Ukraine in the early stages but theUkrainians pulled away to take the medal 45-30. In the gold medal match Russia were toostrong for France and eased to the title with a45-36 victory.Women’s Team FoilOnly eight teams took part in this event withno British entry. The top four teams made thesemi-final, which saw Russia easily defeatingGermany 45-20 and Italy overcoming France45-36. France pulled away from Germany in thebronze medal match, breaking their confidenceearly and went on to win 45-28. A repeat oflast year’s final meant a gold medal match-upbetween Russia and Italy. A great start fromthe Russians meant that they led 7-1 aftertwo legs but Elisa Di Francisca pulled it backto 11-11 after three. The Italians built on DiFrancisca’s performance and led 37-33 goinginto the anchor leg. On came Korobeynikova forthe Russia and she put in a spectacular displayto draw level at 44-44 with Errigo on the ropes.Somehow the Italian composed herself andretained the title for Italy with a 45-44 victory.Above: Richard Kruze in actionBelow: James Davis in actionMen’s Team SabreGreat Britain was one of the twelve teamstaking part in this event but they lost 45-36in the round of 16. In the placings matchesthey had a bye through the first stage, lost45-34 to Poland but they beat Turkey 45-43 tofinish eleventh. Romania, who beat the worldnumber three team, Russia in the quarterfinals,could not repeat their performance in the firstsemi-final, losing 45-32 to Italy. Germany beatHungary 45-40 in the other semi-final.In the bronze medal match, Romania (Badea,Dolniceanu and Teodosiu) pulled away fromHungary in the first three legs to lead 15-11.Hungary (Gemesi, Szatmari and Szilagyi) stageda comeback over the next three legs and led30-35 going into the final third. They went onto take the bronze medal 45-31. Italy (Curatoli,Montano and Occhiuzzi) faced Germany(Hartung, Szabo and Wagner) for the final goldmedal of the championships and gave everyonethe finale that they desired. An incredibly tightmatch saw Italy lead 15-13 after three legsonly for Germany to overtake them to lead30-29 going into the crucial final three bouts.Szabo extended the German’s lead to 35-32over Occhiuzzi. The Italians brought on theirsubstitute, Berre for the penultimate legs andhe did a great job against Hartung to put theItalians 40-39 up going into the last leg. TheGermans weren’t done as Wagner went upagainst Montano and drew level at 44-44. Abrave parry riposte from Wagner meant that theGermans won their first ever European Men’sTeam Sabre title 45-44.Some of the competitors in Montreux willhead to Baku, Azerbaijan, from the inauguralEuropean Games before the season ends inMoscow with the World Championships.JULY 2015 THE SWORD 11