Radio Romania International Sports club

The change of generations Romanian fencing has been going through fatally took its toll on Romanian fencing's recent results at international level. We recall that that the Romanian delegation had a zero-medal tally at the European Championships held in Antalya, Turkey, in June. Little wonder then that the expectations for the World Championships in Cairo were low. At the event in Egypt, Romania had full teams for the men's and women's saber as well as in women's foil and women's epee events. Also, two other fencers participated in the men's individual epee event. The set target was for the respective team to be placed on one of the first six positions at least in one single event. Sabre fencers were the favorites to meeting the set target. We recall that at the European championships the team came in 5th, while Răzvan Ursachi and Iulian Teodosiu had been 5th and 6th placed, respectively, in the individual events.

Exceeding all expectations, Romanian fencers succeeded to win two bronze medals, both in individual events. In the sabre event, Iulian Teodosiu stepped onto the third step of the podium, while Maria Boldor came in 3rd in the foil event. It was just expected from Teodosiu to succeed that. Iulian Teodosiu had already won three medals in nations' competitions, in 2013, when the team won silver at the World Championships, in 2016, when the team won bronze, also in the World Championships, and also in 2016, when the Romanians won another bronze medal, this time in the European Championships. Foil fencer Maria Boldor used to have a constant and an apparently unassuming position among the world's top 100 fencers, being placed somewhere around the 100th position. 26-year world Maria Boldor did not have exceptional results on the record, although she had competed in a great number of events ever since she was 17. However, her notable result in an individual event in Cairo earned Maria Boldor the 19th place according to the world rankings. The Romanian is also entitled to keeping her hopes high for the 2024 edition of the Olympic Games in Paris.

In Cairo, the Romanian teams' run was utterly disappointing. In the men's sabre event, with Iulian Teodosiu and Răzvan Ursachi on the line-up, the Romanians were defeated in the very first round and came in 17th according to the final rankings. In women's sabre, Romania was also defeated, again in the very first round, by Kazakhstan, and came in 18th. In the women's foil event, with Maria Boldor fighting, the Romanians were outclassed by Singapore, also in the very first round, coming in 20th according to the final rankings. The women's epee team was the only Romanian team to have lasted beyond the competition's first round, when they defeated Canada yet losing to Italy, the bronze medalists in Tokyo. In the 9-16 places tournament, Romania overpowered China, lost to Estonia and eventually defeated Egypt, coming in 11th according to the final rankings. A disappointing result, given that in 2016, the epee event earned Romania gold at the Olympic Games in Rio, in the nations' competition, and silver in the individual event, in Tokyo, in 2021.(EN)