Preview fencing day 3 – men’s epee and women’s sabre

On the last day of individual competition of fencing at the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023, 151 fencers are to set the stage in men’s epee and women’s sabre.

The men start of the day with the pool rounds at 09:00. The two largest favourites for gold are Gergely SIKLOSI (HUN), 2019 world champion and world no. 2, and Neisser LOYOLA (BEL), bronze medalist at the 2022 world championship and current world no. 3. Behind them comes high-level fencers from various countries such as Tamas Mate KOCH (HUN), silver medalist at the Istanbul World Cup; Tristan TULEN (NED), silver medalist at the 2022 European Championships, and Alexis BAYARD (SUI), bronze medalist at the same competition. However, as often with men’s epee, anyone that has the day can perform well, and all fencers have a chance at the medal of highest color. The home team is led by Mateusz ANTKIEWICZ (POL), bronze medalist at the European Championship in Plovdiv earlier this year.

At 13:00 the women’s sabre class, usually filled with passion and emotions, will begin with the pool round. Some of the world’s highest ranked fencers will be present, for instance the Greek duo of Despina GEORGIADOU, world no. 2, and world no. 4, Theodor GKONTOURA. They will battle it out with 2022 European champion Anna BASHTA (AZE), world no. 6 Lucia MARTIN-PORTUGUES (ESP), and not least the four-time world champion and fencing legend Olga KHARLAN (UKR). One would also be wise to keep a lookout for the strong Italian fencers, led by Martina CRISCIO and Rossella GREGORIO, as well as Hungary’s Katinka Sugar BATTAI and Liza PUSZTAI. The home team consists of young and promising fencers such as Zuzanna CIESLAR and Sylwia MATUSZAK. 

The full schedule can be found at https://www.european-games.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/fencing.pdf. Moreover, the competition will be streamed through the following link: https://europeangames.tv.

European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 is Europe’s biggest multidisciplinary sporting event in 2023. More than seven thousand athletes are competing in 26 sports and 29 disciplines for 253 gold medals. More than that, European Games 2023 are part of the qualification process for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 in 19 sports. This great celebration of sports starts with opening ceremony in Krakow on 21st of June. The closing ceremony will take place on July 2nd.