RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 20, 2024 – France and USA won gold medals in junior women’s and men’s team sabre at the 2024 Riyadh Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships. Today’s competitions, on the ninth and final day of 18 individual and team events taking place from April 12 to 20, included 30 women’s and 35 men’s teams and are being held at the King Saud University Sports Arena.
“We appreciate the hospitality and excellent organisation provided to us by our hosts, the Saudi Fencing Federation, at the beautiful King Saud University Sports Arena”, said FIE Vice President Mr. Abdelmoneim Elhamy El Husseiny, who officially closed the Championships on behalf of FIE Interim President Emmanuel Katsiadakis. “We congratulate the Saudi Federation both for 2024 being its 50th anniversary as an FIE member federation, and for this first time in its history to host a World Championships.”
At the Closing Ceremony, Mr. Ahmed Alsabban, President of the Saudi Fencing Federation, thanked everyone at the Championships for their participation, spirit of Fair Play, support and work to achieve a resounding success. He formally passed the FIE flag to Mr. Li Haihong, Deputy Director of the Wuxi Sports Bureau, for next year’s Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships in Wuxi, China.
France faced Italy in the final match of junior women’s team sabre, winning with a 45-36 score. In the semifinal round, Italy won against Uzbekistan, 45-43, while France defeated Hungary, 45-44. The bronze medal went to Hungary over Uzbekistan, 45-44.
“We feel a bit overwhelmed, very excited, really tired”, said France’s Alejandra Manga. “We started the day against India and weren’t fencing our best and we were worried about how the day would go. As the matches came, we did better and better. The semifinal against Hungary was today’s hardest match because each time we fence them we don’t know whether we’ll win or lose. And then the final against Italy was a rollercoaster – they’re really good – but we know we can trust each other and we just went for it.”
USA faced Romania in the final match of junior men’s team sabre, winning with a 45-28 score. In the semifinal round, Romania won against Italy, 45-39, while USA defeated Egypt, 45-37. The bronze medal went to Italy over Egypt, 45-35.
“It really just feels amazing, it feels like all the work we’ve been doing this season has come to this moment”, said USA’s Jordan Silberzweig. “We’re all super-grateful to be here and have this amazing opportunity to compete at the World Championships.” “Our hardest match was the semifinal”, said USA’s Cody Walter Ji. “We all struggled in the beginning but most importantly we were able to come together as a team.”
Final rankings in junior women’s team sabre included France (gold), Italy (silver), Hungary (bronze), Uzbekistan, USA, Kazakhstan, Poland and Mexico.
Final rankings in junior men’s team sabre included USA (gold), Romania (silver), Italy (bronze), Egypt, Korea, Spain, Uzbekistan and Hungary.
Complete and official results for the event may be found on the FIE website. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.