Four World fencing Cups held in Fujairah, Madrid, Plovdiv and Saint-Maur to test Paris 2024. 'X'@FIE_fencing

The International Fencing Federation has completed its 2023-2024 Senior World Cup competition season. The four events were held last weekend, from 17 to 19 May 2024.

The four World Cup events organised by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) marked the end of the 2023-2024 season. The athletes are now focused on Paris 2024. These competitions served as a testing ground and the best preparation with less than two months to go.

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, hosted the women's épée. Hong Kong, China won the individual gold medal for Man Wai Vivian Kong. Korea won the team gold medal. The event took place at the Zayed Sports Complex with 193 individual fencers and 21 teams competing.

Kong faced Switzerland's Pauline Brunner in the final and won 15-13. In the women's team épée event, Korea faced Italy in the final and won 34-33. Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG, gold), Pauline Brunner (SUI, silver), Alberta Santuccio (ITA, bronze) and Auriane Mallo-Breton (FRA, bronze) were among the finalists in the women's individual épée.

Korea (gold), Italy (silver), Switzerland (bronze), Canada, Estonia, Poland, France and China were among the finalists in the women's team épée.

The men's sabre competition was held in Madrid, Spain. France's Sebastien Patrice won the individual gold medal and the USA won the team gold medal. The event was held at the Centro Deportivo Municipal La Fundi. 207 individual fencers and 24 teams took part in the competition.

Patrice faced Korea's Hansol Ha in the final of the men's individual sabre and won 15-13. In the round of 16, Patrice defeated Korea's World Champion Sanguk Oh 15-12.  In the men's team sabre competition, the USA faced Egypt in the final. The USA won 45-37.

The final standings in the men's individual sabre included Sebastien Patrice (FRA, gold), Hansol Ha (KOR, silver), William Morrill (USA, bronze) and Matteo Neri (ITA, bronze).

In the men's team sabre final, the USA (gold), Egypt (silver), Hungary (bronze), France, Romania, Germany, Japan and Korea took the medals.

Plovdiv, Bulgaria, hosted the women's sabre competition. France's Sara Balzer won the individual gold medal. Ukraine won the team gold medal. The event took place at the Kolodrum Plovdiv, with 152 individual fencers and 16 teams competing.

In the final of the women's individual sabre, Balzer was pitted against four-time world champion Olga Kharlan of Ukraine. Balzer won 15-8. In the women's team sabre competition, Ukraine faced Spain in the final and won 45-43.

Sara Balzer (FRA, gold), Olga Kharlan (UKR, silver), Misaki Emura (JPN, bronze) and Despina Georgiadou (GRE, bronze) were among the finalists in the women's individual sabre. The final standings in the women's team sabre included Ukraine (gold), Spain (silver) and France (bronze).

Finally, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France, was the venue for the men's épée "Challenge Monal". The World Champion from Hungary, Gergely Siklosi, won the gold medal in the individual competition and Japan won the gold medal in the team competition. The event took place at the Centre Sportif Pierre Brossolette. 307 individual fencers and 29 teams took part in the competition. Siklosi faced Japan's Masaru Yamada in the final and won 15-9.

In the men's team épée, Japan played France in the final and won 44-43. Gergely Siklosi (HUN, gold), Masaru Yamada (JPN, silver), Davide Di Veroli (ITA, bronze) and Zijie Wang (CHN, bronze) were among the finalists in the men's individual épée. Japan (gold), France (silver) and Kazakhstan (bronze) were the other finalists in the men's team épée.

Finally, Italy's Martina Favaretto and Hong Kong, China's Olympic champion Ka Long Cheung won gold medals at the Shanghai 2024 Women's and Men's Foil Grand Prix. The event took place at the Jing'an Gymnasium. 163 women and 190 men took part in the competition. 

Favaretto faced Poland's Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk in the final of the Women's Individual Foil and won 15-9. Cheung faced Gerek Meinhardt of the USA in the final of the men's individual foil and won 15-7.