China double-up at Terni 2023 World Championships

The double win included victory against hosts Italy in the men’s sabre, much to the disappointment of the fans who had gathered to enjoy an early evening of action at the PalaTerni.

But China and Italy put on a great show for the crowds nonetheless. Edoardo Giordan in particular gave them a lot to cheer for as he bought Italy back from 20-2 down to place them back in contention, scoring a stunning 21 points against Yanke Feng.

However in the following rounds, Yang Cheng, Feng and Li Hao managed to pull away once again and Matteo Dei Rossi and Gianmarco Paolucci, alongside Giordan, could not find another way back. China’s performance stands them in good stead for the own home major international competition; the Asia Para Games in Hangzhou, China, which get underway on 23 October.

France emerged the victors in the bronze medal match against India. Ludovic Lemoine, Maxime Valet and Serge Robin overcame the Indian team formed of Rajiv Bidlan, Sethy Rakhal Kumar and Sunil Phogat.

Paralympic champions China also showed that they still have the magic touch in the women’s team epee, dispatching Thailand 45-43 to secure the gold.

Xufeng Zou, the new world champion from the women’s category A, won all her bouts as Yuandong Chen and Kang Su – also medallists from the individual competition, performed just as well.

Saysunee Jana, the winner of the category B 24 hours before, tried to hold her team back from a rout but Aphinya Thongdaeng and Duean Nakprasit struggled against their Chinese opponents despite their best efforts.

In the bronze medal match, Hungary retained their bronze from 2019 against France.

The match was close with quality epeeists on both sides, and the lead swapped several times.

But Amarilla Veres – the individual Paralympic champion – Boglarka Mezo and Zsuzsanna Krajnyak held their collective nerve against Cecile Demaude, Brianna Vide and Clemence Delavoipiere to take the win 45-37.

Action continues in Terni on Saturday (7 October) with the women’s foil category A and B and men’s epee category A, B and C.