Romanian men's sabre team wins bronze at Fencing World Championships
Romania's men's sabre team, consisting of Vlad Covaliu, George Dragomir, Radu Nițu, and Răzvan Ursachi, won the bronze medal at the Fencing World Championships in Hong Kong on Thursday after defeating Hungary 45-39 in the bronze-medal match.
Romania trailed heavily after the first two bouts, 10-3, with Aron Szilagyi defeating Radu Nițu 5-2 and Krisztian Rabb beating Răzvan Ursachi 5-1. Vlad Covaliu brought Romania back into contention with a strong 10-5 victory over Bertalan Toth, narrowing the overall score to 13-15, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
George Dragomir, who recently won bronze at the European Championships, delivered an outstanding performance against the highly decorated Aron Szilagyi, winning 7-5 to level the overall score at 20-20. Romania took the lead thanks to Radu Nițu, who defeated Toth 5-4, but Hungary regained the advantage after Rabb beat the younger Covaliu 6-3.
Dragomir restored Romania's momentum with a commanding 7-2 victory over Toth, while Vlad Covaliu extended the lead by defeating Szilagyi 5-2. Radu Nițu sealed Romania's victory by drawing 5-5 with Rabb in the final bout.
Romania, which also won bronze at last year's World Championships in Tbilisi, entered the second round directly and opened its campaign with a 45-17 victory over Great Britain. The team then defeated Venezuela 45-30 in the round of 16 and Italy 45-36 in the quarter-finals before narrowly losing the semi-final to South Korea 44-45. South Korea will face France in the gold-medal match.
Romania finished the championships with two bronze medals—one won by Radu Nițu in the men's individual sabre event and the other by the men's sabre team.
Romania was represented by 11 athletes at the Fencing World Championships in Hong Kong, held from July 22 to 30.
Men's sabre: Vlad Covaliu, Radu Nițu, Răzvan Ursachi, George Dragomir. Coaches: Alin Badea, Tiberiu Dolniceanu, Irina Covaliu.
Women's sabre: Amalia Covaliu, Andreea Lupu, Anastasia Fusea. Coaches: Alin Badea, Tiberiu Dolniceanu, Irina Covaliu.
Women's foil: Andreea Dincă. Coach: Mihai Dincă.
Women's épée: Emma Șonț, Daria Stănciulescu, Natalia Constantin. Coach: Octavian Zidaru.
Support staff: Mircea Sandu (physiotherapist), Simona Răduțu (medical assistant), Alexandru Iscru (sports psychologist).
Photo: CS Dinamo Bucuresti/facebook.com
