Gold mine: the Russian national team failed the Fencing World Cup

The results of the World Championship were a reflection of the "tragic situation" in Russian fencing, said Ilgar Mammadov, head of the federation for this sport. On the final day of the tournament in Hong Kong, the Russians were left without awards in the team competitions: The women's foil team lost to Japan in the quarterfinals, while the men's sabre team lost to South Korea at the same stage. Thus, Russia finished the World Cup with one medal — the individual sabre tournament was won by 19-year-old Pavel Graudyn. We performed worse in the overall standings only in 1999, when the Russian team did not have any victories, but it took one silver and three bronze medals.

Weakened "fifty times"

The World Fencing Championships ended in Hong Kong on July 30. On this day, Russian athletes did not make it to the top 4 in the women's foil and men's sabre. After that, the president of the FFR immediately gave a disappointing assessment of the performance of the national team.

— One gold piece. It's good that this is so, because there could have been none at all, thanks to Pasha Graudyn — he brought it to us," Ilgar Mammadov told TASS. — This is our reality, we have become weak, very weak. If we consider that the Olympics [with our participation] were five years ago, then in five years we have weakened. Not five times, but fifty times. We are uncompetitive in almost all types. Three possible medals flew away. This speaks to the tragic situation that is happening in our country.

It was not the first World Cup after our return to the international arena. A year ago in Tbilisi, we competed in a neutral status amid political tensions, but nevertheless won a gold and two silver medals. Yana Yegoryan won that World Cup. Currently, the title defense has failed — in the 1/16 finals, the Russian sabre player lost to the Olympic champion of Paris 2024 Manon Apiti - 12:15.

Kirill Borodachev won personal silver in Tbilisi 2025. In Hong Kong, he moved confidently along the grid, preventing his opponents from reaching the score of 10. In the 1/8 finals, he defeated the host of the tournament, Chong Ka Long, with a score of 15.:2. However, in the quarterfinal match against two—time Olympic silver medalist Filippo Macchi from Italy, the Russian missed one accurate shot - 14:15.

In addition to Kirill Borodachev's unfortunate setback, our athletes had several disappointing losses in the quarterfinals in Hong Kong. If they had fought these matches a little more confidently, they would have made it to the top 4, where they would have already guaranteed themselves at least a bronze.

Our skewers were just one shot away from the podium. In the men's 1/4, Dmitry Shvelidze lost to the future tournament champion Lucas Malcotti with a score of 11:12. Anastasia Rustamova stopped at this stage among the women, who lost to Chinese Tang Junao at 14:15.

Three Russians didn't have enough money to make the final table much more enjoyable for us. We had some bad luck with the grid and had to fight with the leaders of the world rankings and world champions, and we didn't have enough experience at crucial moments. In terms of medals, everything probably looks depressing, in terms of capabilities and potential, it's quite a working situation.

Golden Injection: how Russian Graudyn became world champion at the age of 19

The first big victory of our fencers under the flag and anthem in seven years

Team failures

Of course, we wanted more in the team sports. In Tbilisi, our skewers took silver, and this time they stopped in the 1/8 finals. But, for example, all the men's teams (sword, rapier, saber) reached the quarterfinals. Here, getting into the top 4 does not guarantee a medal, as there are fights for bronze, but it greatly increases her chances. The Russian sabre players, with whom certain hopes were associated, did not qualify for the quarterfinals. In the 1/8 finals, one blow was again missing — a 44:45 defeat against the Ukrainians.

Our main hero of the World Cup is Pavel Graudyn. The 19-year-old sabre player, who was not among the favorites, walked the entire distance of the tournament confidently and left no chance for his rivals in the battles for medals: 15:8 in the semifinals and 15:7 in the golden duel. He became the first Russian fencer since 2022 to have the national anthem played in his honor. We haven't won the World Championships in men's sabre in more than 10 years.

"It was amazing,— Pavel Graudyn told Izvestia. — It's an incredible feeling, I'm very happy. I want to say thank you to everyone who supports me, my family, my team and the country.

Dmitry Guberniev, a television commentator and adviser to the Minister of Sports, told Izvestia that at one time he was also rooting for Pavel's parents — they were winners of the World Championships in athletics.

— These are excellent athletes, but the son, of course, exceeded all expectations. What his parents couldn't do, Pavel did at the age of 19 in fencing. A very confident victory in every segment, with an advantage. It's been a long time since this happened. Pavel is the real master of the fencing mountain. I commented on the award ceremony and I can say about the importance of our symbols, the flag and the anthem are not forgotten by athletes. It's great that this is happening. Not everything worked out for our national team in this tournament, but Graudyn is just phenomenal. This victory means a lot to our sport," Guberniev said.

After the World Cup in Hong Kong, it is certainly necessary to draw conclusions and look for points for growth. However, this is not the final test of our national team's strength before the Olympics in Los Angeles. At the World Cup in a year's time, we'll check how the team worked on the mistakes.