Three Medals Won at the European Fencing Championships

The Hungarian delegation won three medals in the individual fencing competition at the European Fencing Championships in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday. Gergely Siklósi won silver and Tibor Andrásfi secured a bronze medal in the men’s epée individual event. Women’s sabre fencer Liza Pusztai took second step on the podium.

Siklósi, the 2019 world champion, 2021 Olympic silver medalist, and second in the international rankings, fought Andrásfi for the final. The first two phases were close, with one fencer leading the other, but Siklósi emerged victorious in the end.

In the final he fought Luidgi Midelton of France. The French fencer took an early lead with three touches, but by the end of the second three minutes Siklósi had caught up 6-5. In the third period, the gap grew again, but Siklósi did not give up and was able to come back from 6-11. With 16 seconds to go the score was 13-14, but the equalizer failed to come, and the final score was 13-15.

After the final, Siklósi told M4 Sport’s on-site crew that the start was not good, as he lost to two opponents in their group, but then tried to pick up. “In the final, I felt I had my French opponent at the end and could have caught up.

I had a couple of mistakes that I should not have made in those last seconds, but I am going to train for the next thirty-eight days to make sure that does not happen at the Olympics.”

As for the “benefits” of the European Championships, he said he was able to asses others, to compete against people who will be at the Olympics. “I was able to beat most of them, except the French, but I got the hang of it towards the end,” he added.

Bronze medalist Tibor Andrásfi said that winning a medal was the result of consistent work. “It has been in me all season and even in the last few years to get a good result,” he noted.

Liza Pusztai won the silver medal in the women’s individual event at the European Championships on Thursday. The team world champion and 2017 European bronze medalist in the individual event, the Hungarian fencer started in the top 32 after a successful group stage. There, she fought through Azeri, Georgian, Italian, and Spanish opponents to reach the final, where she fought another Spanish fencer. She was determined at the start, leading 4-1, but then faltered and Celia Pérez Cuenca gave seven touches in a row. However, the Hungarian fencer did not give up, having a chance to equalize but eventually lost 15-13.

“Mostly I managed to surprise myself, but it is a very mature result and I am very happy,” the Hungarian silver medalist told M4 Sport. She said that perhaps the reason why she was so focused on the match was because she was now only concentrating on the Olympics. Because of this, he had no real competitive spirit at the European Championships and was not nervous at all, she noted.

She really wanted to win the final, but, as she noted, “you get tired by then.”

I am glad I managed to pull myself together and catch up at the end. Unfortunately, the finish did not work out, but I will do it at the Olympics,”

she said, referring to the main event of the year.

On Friday, the women’s epée team also excelled: the team of Eszter Muhari, Tamara Gnám, Blanka Nagy, and Kinga Dékány reached the final. In the final, starting at 6:40 p.m., last year’s runners-up will face Italy for the gold medal.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Hungarian Fencing Federation / Magyar Vívó Szövetség