Italy top the table at the U23 European Championships

The under-23 European Championships has just finished in Torun, Poland, with events taking place over five days (5-9 June).

Day 1 – 5 June

Women’s Epee

Katrina Smith was the only British fencer to take part in this event.  In the first round she won two of her six fights.  With exactly the same indicator as Swatowska (POL) she ended up drawing the number one seed, Gudkova (RUS) in the round of 32.  The Russian made light work of Smith running out a 15-4 winner.  Coming through a field of 42, Ferrari (ITA) won the event beating Paju (EST) 15-8 in the final.  Gudkova (RUS) went on to take a bronze medal along with Hugos-Mallorqui (GER).

GB Placings:  Smith 31^st=.

Men’s Sabre

A field of 35 for this event did not include any fencers from Britain.  It was another gold medal for Italy as Foschini beat Schroedter (GER) 15-7 in the final.  The bronze medals went to Botezatu (RUS) and Ravasz (HUN).

Day 2 – 6 June

Men’s Epee

The busiest day for British fencers saw three taking part in this event, joining a field of 52.  Grealey (V1D5), Henderson (V1D4) and Thomas (V1D5) did not make the first round cut.  It was three out of three for the Italian team as Citro defeated Bruttini (ITA) 15-4 in the gold medal match.  Broniszewski (POL) and Boehm (GER) went home with bronze medals.

GB Placings:  Henderson 42^nd, Thomas 44^th & Grealey 45^th.

Women’s Foil

Another three British fencers took part in this event joining a field on 31.  Dickson (V0D5) and Segall (V1D5) did not make the first round cut but Sibert (V2D3) did.  In the round of 32 she faced Kirschen (GER) and went out 15-7.  For the first time in the event the gold medal spot on the podium was not occupied by an Italian as Lyczbinska (POL) defeated Schmitz (GER) 15-6 in the final.  Cini (ITA) and Golya (HUN) won the bronze medals.

GB Placings:  Sibert 21^st, Segall 28^th & Dickson 30^th.

Day 3 – 7 June

Men’s Foil

Two British fencers joined a field of 35 in this event.  Hendrie (V0D6) did not make the cut but Peggs (V4D2) did.  In the round of 32 he beat Stuehler (AUT) 15-7 and followed that up with a comfortable victory over Kralik (SVK) 15-3 in the round of 16.  In the quarterfinal he met the highly experienced Russian, Timur Safin.  That experience shone through as Safin established a lead in the first period and then went on to win 15-8 in the second period.  In fact, he went on to win the whole competition beating Rosatelli (ITA) 15-7 in the final.  Byk (BLR) and Lichagin (RUS) took the bronze medals.

GB Placings:  Peggs 7^th & Hendire 33^rd.

Women’s Sabre

There were no British fencers in the field of 22.  Kedziora (POL) took the gold medal beating Ostojska (POL) 15-9 in the final.  Two Russians took the bronze medals, Illarionova and Kiriyanova.

Day 4 – 8 June

Women’s Epee Team

The eight teams taking part in this event did not include one from Great Britain.  Russia overcame Italy 35-34 to take the gold medal.  In the bronze medal match Estonia defeated Germany 45-35.

Women’s Foil Team

A women’s foil team of Dickson, Segall and Sibert joined a field of seven in this event.  In the round of 8 they lost 45-20 to Germany followed by a defeat (45-28) by the Netherlands in the placings match to finish seventh.  Italy beat Poland 45-29 to take the gold medal whilst Russia took the bronze medal beating Germany 42-30.

Men’s Sabre Team

With no British involvement, nine other teams from around Europe fought off for this title.  Germany defeated Russia 45-38 in the gold medal match and Italy beat Austria 45-41 for the bronze medal.

Day 5 – 9 June

Men’s Epee Team

Eight teams took to the piste for this event that did not include one from Great Britain.  The gold medal went to Italy who beat Hungary 45-44 whilst the bronze medal went to Russia who beat Germany 45-33.

Men’s Foil Team

Another event that did not include British involvement in a field of six was the Men’s Foil Team event.  In the gold medal match Russian defeated Germany 45-20.  The bronze medal went to Italy who beat Poland 43-42.

Women’s Sabre Team

The five teams who fought off in the final event of this competition did not include one from Great Britain.  Hungary took the gold medal beating Russia 45-43 in the final with the bronze medal going to Poland who beat Italy 45-42.

Full results for all events can be found here.  Italy topped the medal table with four golds, three silvers and two bronze medals.  The final medal table can be found here.