BUDAPEST, Hungary, July 18, 2019—On the first evening of finals competition at the Budapest 2019 Fencing World Championships, Korea’s Sanguk Oh took the gold medal in individual men’s sabre and Brazil’s Nathalie Moellhausen won the first-ever fencing world championship medal for her country in individual women’s epee. During the opening ceremonies, International Olympic Committee President and fencing Olympic champion Thomas Bach, FIE President Alisher Usmanov and Hungarian Secretary of State for Sport of the Ministry of Human Resources Tunde Szabo each gave a welcome address to a worldwide audience, and the World Championships were declared officially open by Mr. Bach.
Being held at the BOK Sports Hall (AKA SYMA Sports and Conference Centre), the Championships had a total of 348 fencers participating in men’s sabre and women’s epee. In all, 118 countries have fielded athletes to compete in the nine-day competition, featuring 12 men’s and women’s individual and team events in three weapons.
In the gold-medal match for individual men’s sabre, Oh overcame Hungarian world champion Andras Szatmari to win, 15-12. Szatmari defeated Iran’s Mojtaba Abedini in the semifinal round, 15-8, while Oh beat Italy’s Luca Curatoli, 15-11. Szatmari beat USA’s number-one ranked Eli Dershwitz in the quarterfinals, 15-12, and prior to that eliminated Russian world champion Veniamin Reshetnikov in the round of 16, 15-12.
Moellhausen faced China’s Sheng Lin in the final match of individual women's epee, winning with a 13-12 score in priority overtime to take the gold medal. In the semifinal round, Lin beat Ukraine’s Olena Kryvytska by a single touch, 15-14, and Moellhausen defeated Hong Kong’s Man Wai Vivian Kong, 15-11. Notably, reigning 2018 world champion Mara Navarria (ITA) was eliminated in the round of 32 by Germany’s Alexandra Ndolo, 15-14.
Final ranking for individual men’s sabre at the 2019 Budapest Fencing World Championships include Sanguk Oh (KOR, gold), Andras Szatmari (HUN, silver), Mojtaba Abedini (IRI, bronze), Luca Curatoli (ITA, bronze), Eli Dershwitz (USA), Max Hartung (GER), Konstantin Lokhanov (RUS) and Shaul Gordon (CAN).
The individual women’s epee ranking includes Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA, gold), Sheng Lin (CHN, silver), Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG, bronze), Olena Kryvytska (UKR, bronze), Coraline Vitalis (FRA), Young Mi Kang (KOR), Lis Rottler-Fautsch (LUX) and Hyein Lee (KOR).
Complete information about the Championships may be found on the official website, www.2019Budapest.com and official results are available on the FIE website. Click here for photo highlights of men’s sabre and women’s epee.
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