Fencing. Team Saber World Cup: Italy comes second

After a fifth place in Algiers and a fourth in Warsaw, the first podium of the season in the World Cup for Italy arrives in Padua for coach Zanotti’s men’s saber, which shines silver returning to the “medal area” after almost seven months of distance from the bronze won at the Cairo 2022 World Cup: in the final, the Azzurri had to surrender to the stronger Hungary.

The path

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Without captain Luigi Samele, who was rested as a precaution but still on the bench alongside his teammates, replaced by Matteo Neri, and with the support of Aldo Montano in his new role as Team Mentor of the blue saber, Zanotti rotated all the elements of the quartet. Italy – seeded number 4 in the draw and therefore admitted by right to the round of 16 – debuted with a 45-39 victory over Great Britain, in a long-balanced match, which ended with a draw in the ninth and final fraction of Luca Curatoli. In the quarterfinals the challenge against Spain was fought point to point: the Italian sabers, always ahead, managed to impose themselves 45-40, thus detaching the ticket for the semifinal against Korea. Here, thanks to a great team performance, Italy, carried away by the enthusiasm of the home crowd, overcame the Asian team’s nine hits deficit. Matteo Neri’s antepenultimate set was decisive (in relay with Michele Gallo), who put the Azzurri back on track, before Pietro Torre kept the match in balance by entrusting Luca Curatoli, architect of a great assault against Kim, the closing with the success for 45-42. In the final against Hungary of the tri-Olympic Aron Szilagyi, the Azzurri paid for a false start, trying in vain to get closer in the final part of the match, won by the Magyars with a score of 45-30. A weekend to remember, therefore, for the Italian men’s saber at the Luxardo Trophy. Excellent premises one month before the start of the Olympic Qualification for the Paris 2024 Games.

Women

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Instead, Michela Battiston’s race in the individual competition of the women’s saber World Cup in Athens stops a few hits from the podium. The sixth-placed Friulian is the best of the Azzurri in the competition on the Greek platforms. Michela Battiston’s journey began with the victory in the 64-point draw against the German Funke with a score of 15-9 to then overcome the Polish Kozaczuk in the 32-point round with a thrilling 15-14 in the last jab. The Italian Air Force saber, who trains at Dauno Foggia, then got the better of the number 1 in the world ranking, the Azeri Bashta, again with a thrilling finish, finishing 15-14. In the quarterfinals, Michela Battiston’s stop came against the Greek Gkountoura, who won 15-10. One step away from the scoreboard of the best 8 Rebecca Gargano and Eloisa Passaro, protagonists of more than positive performances. The Neapolitan Air Force was beaten in the 16-point draw by the French Rifkiss in the last breath with 15-14 while the Venetian of the Fiamme Oro saw its match close against the Ukrainian Kharlan for 15-9. Tomorrow the Athens World Cup round will end with the team competition: Italy on the platform with Rossella Gregorio, Martina Criscio, Michela Battiston and Chiara Mormile.