Men’s Sabre Team Defends Title at the European Championships

L-R: Áron Szilágyi, András Szatmári, Krisztián Rabb, and Iliász Nikolász

The Hungarian men’s sabre team defended their title and won the gold medal at the European Fencing Championships in Genoa, Italy, on Tuesday evening.

Áron Szilágyi, who finished second in the individual competition, András Szatmári and Krisztián Rabb, who won Olympic silver medals with him last year, and Nikolász Iliász started as favorites in the quarterfinals, where they came back after a slow first round and ultimately won by four touches against Georgia. In the semifinals, the Hungarians faced the Russians, who were competing under neutral colors, and this time they performed much more evenly, winning very easily with a 19-point difference at the end.

For the gold, they had to face the Italians, who had knocked out the favorites, France. The first three bouts of the final ended in Hungarian success, with Rabb beating Michelle Gallo, Szilágyi beating Luca Curatoli, and Szatmári beating Matteo Neri. The second round began with Hungary leading 15-9, but then there was a lull, with Szilágyi struggling to find his rhythm against Gallo. He was generally hit in the middle of the piste, and the Italian fencer equalized at 17-17.

However, the Hungarian three-time Olympic champion, who only returned to the international stage in early May after Achilles surgery in September, managed to save the bout 5-9 and handed over to Rabb with a two-touch lead.

Four Hungarian successes followed, and Pietro Torre, who replaced Neri, was unable to change the course of the match. In the ninth pair, Rabb and Curatoli faced each other.

The Italian scored four hits in a row from 40-30, but then twisted his ankle, and the young Hungarian fencer also successfully closed out an action. Then, at 42-35, Rabb requested a video review after Curatoli’s attack because his opponent had stopped, and the referee reversed the decision and showed the protesting Italian a red card, which resulted in another Hungarian point.

This brought the score to 44-35, and a few moments later, with a partial score of 5-5, Rabb closed the match.

“It was great to fight with the guys in every match. I feel that we fenced better and better as the day went on. We had a tough first match in the quarter-finals against Georgia, but we managed to fight our way out of it, and we beat the Russians with some good fencing, and against the Italians, as always, we came off the piste as winners after a close battle,” said Áron Szilágyi to M4 Sport on site, adding that he prepared for the European Championships with the mindset that the team was more important, even though he was not 100% fit, and that he wanted to help the team achieve the best possible result. “Then I had a good individual fencing match, and I am very happy that we are going home with a gold medal,” he said.

Krisztián Rabb said it was an honor to be the closing fencer, “especially in a team like this,” and he is very happy that they ended their first world competition in this lineup with a victory.

The beginning was bumpy, I had to get used to the piste, but I think I pulled myself together afterwards and actually fenced my best in the final. May it always be so!”

said András Szatmári, who did not compete individually.

Iliász Nikolász said that he is very happy to be part of this team, which he considers to be the best in the world, and he is confident that if given the opportunity, he will continue to strengthen the team. A year ago, the Hungarian team won with Szilágyi, Rabb, Csanád Gémesi, and Tamás Decsi.

The men’s sabre team won the Hungarians’ fifth medal in Genoa. Earlier, Szilágyi won silver in the individual competition, while Pásztor Flóra won bronze in foil, Siklósi Gergely in épée, and Battai Sugár in sabre.

Via MTI, M4Sport; Featured image: MTI/EPA/ANSA/Luca Zennaro