Preview fencing day 6
On the last day of the fencing event at the European Games 2023 Kraków-Malopolska, the men’s team epee event and the women’s sabre event will take the stage in Tauron Arena.
The men’s epee event is set to start at 09:00, and during the day a total of 24 teams will compete. The top seed is world no. 1 France, reigning Olympic and world champion. They look as strong as ever, led by individual world no. 4 and no. 5 Romain CANNONE and Alexandre BARDENET. Right behind them is world no. 2 Italy, reigning European champions, with a strong core consisting of Andrea SANTARELLI and individual world no. 2 Davide DI VEROLI. The men’s epee team competition is, however, an open affair, with teams like world no. 4 Hungary, world no. 7 Switzerland , and world no. 10 Israel surely to give their all for the gold medal. Some dark horses are Czech Republic, led by veteran Jiri BERAN who has a splendid season in the bag, and Spain, who has two fencers that reached the quarterfinal of the individual competition.
Later during the day, at 11:30, the 12 teams of the women’s sabre event will begin the chase for gold. Reigning European champions and world no.1 France look poised to join their male colleagues on the top of the podium, and there is no doubt they are the big favourites. Another favourite is world no. 4 Hungary, who did not perform according to expectations in the individual event. They have, however, had a strong showing in the team events of the season, increasing their odds for a good placement in the competition. Team Ukarine, despite being ranked 11th of the world, are a strong contender for the medals, being led by individual gold medalist Olga KHARLAN. Also Greece, with the two world-class fencers Theodora GKOUNTOURA and Despina GEORIGADOU in front, could challenge the more established teams.
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.