The men's saber event saw Olympic bronze medalists Áron Szilágyi, András Szatmári, Tamás Decsi, and Csanád Gémesi clinching the title of Europe’s best in a close battle against the Ukrainian team.Continue reading
In a fierce battle, Hungary’s men’s saber team lost 45-37 in the final at the World Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt, earning the well-deserved silver medal.
In the final clash, Olympic bronze medalists Áron Szilágyi, András Szatmári, Csanád Gémesi, and Tamás Decsi had to face the South Korean team, winner of the previous three World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics.
Before reaching the final, Hungary’s saber team beat Vietnam, Spain, Turkey, and Italy.
The Hungarian national team already won a silver at the last World Championships in Budapest in 2019, when they lost to the same opponent by a single point.
“We have won four silver medals in the last five World Championships, we are getting tired of it,” said András Szatmári prior to the announcement of the results.
“Obviously everyone wanted to win, all my teammates, including myself. I think we tried our best, but it has to be said that this South Korean team is brutally strong, even on the bench having an individual world champion and Olympic bronze medallist.
To defeat South Korea, he stressed, everyone has to perform exceptionally well.
“Today, I would say that it was Áron who did what was expected of him, I couldn’t do anything special, I tried to do well, but it was not enough to beat them,” he added.
“We were already prepared before the World Championships to be facing South Korea in the final. That was the plan and obviously, the goal was to beat them, but today they were stronger than us,” admitted Csanád Gémesi.
“The last time at the World Championships in Budapest, it was a very close match, but this time they were better than us. We are constantly working to get closer to them, I think we are on the right track, but this was not that match…”
The Hungarian saber team finished clinching a medal for the fifth World Championships in a row. In the previous four, they finished second three times and third once: losing to Russia in 2016, South Korea in 2017, and 2019 in the final, and winning bronze in 2018.
via MTI
Featured photo by Mohamed Hoszam/EPA/MTI