Hungary, Germany, the victors at Under 23s Worlds

31/08/2023

Hungarian and German youngsters stole the show at the 2023 Wheelchair Fencing Under 23s World Championships in Busan, South Korea on Thursday (31 August), topping the women’s sabre and men’s foil podiums.

The semi-finals and finals are available live and on-demand at the wheelchair fencing website alongside live results.

Hungary’s Anna Nadasdy was one of the stars of the last Under 23s World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2022, winning a medal in all weapons.

That included gold in the sabre and the 18-year-old successfully retained her title on Thursday.

Nadasdy cruised through the rounds to land in the final against Thailand’s Aphinya Thongdaeng.

Unlike the Hungarian, Thongdaeng is competing at her first youth World Championships. But the 20-year-old entered the clash confident having taken bronze on Wednesday in the epee.

It was not to be however as Nadasdy proved too strong, stretching to a six-point lead to claim the crown with a 15-9 score.

The USA’s Shelby Jensen took third spot on the sabre podium alongside South Korea’s Hyo Kyeong Kwon. The bronze is Kwon’s second medal in as many days having secured the epee title 24 hours before.

Nadasdy will line-up again on Friday (1 September) hoping to keep hold of her foil gold from 2022.

In the men’s foil Germany’s Julius Haupt topped the podium for the second time in Busan.

The 23-year-old was the victor from Wednesday’s sabre, this time taking control of his final bout with France’s Quentin Fernandez-Anssoux.

Despite missing out on gold, Fernandez-Anssoux will be encouraged by his silver. It marks an improvement on his bronze from 2022.

Great Britain’s Josh Waddell claimed his first top three finish in the foil at this level with bronze. Felix Schrader, the under 17s world champion from 2019, shared the third spot.

The 2023 Wheelchair Fencing Under 23s World Championships conclude on Friday with the women’s foil and men’s epee.

Athletes will then remain in Busan for the fifth World Cup of 2023 from 2-5 September, offering world ranking points which go towards qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The Busan 2023 World Cup is also the last event ahead of the 2023 Wheelchair Fencing World Championships taking place in Terni, Italy, from 2-8 October.