Favourites
- Fares Ferjani (TUN) took silver medal in the men’s individual sabre event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He can become the first man to win a medal for Tunisia at the fencing world championships. In women’s events, Tunisia claimed four medals (G0-S1-B3).
- Aron Szilagyi (HUN) won more Olympic gold medals in this event (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) than world titles (2022). Szilagyi claimed silver in this event at the European championships in Genoa in June 2025. At the age of 35, he could become the oldest world champion in this event since Rudolf Kárpáti (HUN, 39 years old) in 1959.
- Remi Garrigue (FRA) won the gold medal in this event at the European championships in June. He hopes to win the first world title for France in this event since Damien Touya in 1999.
- Brothers Sebastien Patrice (FRA) and Jean-Philippe Patrice (FRA) have never faced each other at the world championships.
Jean-Philippe leads the head-to-head versus Sebastien 3-2 in other major international competitions. Sebastien Patrice is leading the FIE ranking in this event. Two of the last three world champions in this event entered the tournament as the top-ranked fencer: Sanguk Oh in 2019 and Aron Szilagyi in 2022.
- In 2023 Georgia’s Sandro Bazadze led the FIE ranking at the start of the world championships, but he lost the final against Eli Dershwitz (USA), who entered the competition as the second-ranked fencer. He claimed bronze in this event in 2022 and silver in 2023. Bazadze has reached the podium at four Grand Prix or World Cup events this season. A home favourite with strong momentum. He can become the first fencer to win a world title for Georgia.
- Luca Curatoli (ITA, born 25 July 1994) can win a medal in this event on his birthday. The final is held on 25 July. Curatoli took bronze in this event in 2019.
- Gyeongdong Do (KOR) won the men’s sabre at the Asian championships in Bali in June this year. Sanguk Oh (2019) is the only man to have won the men’s sabre world title and Asian championship gold medal in the same year.
Sangwon Park (KOR, born 14 September 2000) won the Grand Prix in Tunis in January 2025. He could become the first fencer born in this century to win a medal in the men’s sabre event at the world championships.
- Colin Heathcock (USA) can become the youngest medal winner in the men’s sabre event at the world championships. He will be 19 years and 217 days old on the day of the final (25 July). He would overtake Vadim Guttsayt who was 19y-260d when he claimed bronze for the Soviet Union in 1991. Heathcock won this event at the Pan American championships in Rio de Janeiro in June. He defeated his brother Antonio Heathcock (USA) in the semi-finals. When Colin won his first junior world title in 2022, he also defeated his brother Antonio in the semi-finals.
- Chenpeng Shen (CHN) hopes to win the first world championships medal for China in the men’s sabre event.
- Eli Derschwitz (USA) won the world title in the men’s sabre individual in 2023, but he will not compete in Tbilisi.
Various
- Eli Derschwitz (USA) won the world title in the men’s sabre individual in 2023, but he will not compete in Tbilisi.
- Hungary has won the most world titles (22) in this event, including 10 successive gold medals from 1925 to 1937. That run of 10 consecutive world titles from 1925 to 1937 is the longest winning streak by one NF in a specific event at the world championships.
- The men’s individual sabre is the only individual men’s or women’s event in which France has not won a world title in this century. The last French world champion in this event was Damien Touya in 1999.
- Two men won bronze-silver-gold in that order in this event at successive world championships: Luigi Tarantino (ITA) in 1995-bronze, 1997-silver, 1998-gold, and Mihai Covaliu (ROU) in 2002-bronze, 2003-silver, 2005-gold. Mihai Covaliu’s son Vlad Covaliu (ROU) won gold (2024) and silver (2025) in this event at the junior world championships.