Milan World Championships: Tommaso Marini gold in men’s foil

Milan World Championships: Tommaso Marini gold in men’s foil

Last year in Cairo he was beaten in the final by France’s Enzo Lefort winning an already stunning silver medal, today Tommaso Marini took gold in foil at the ongoing Fencing World Championships in Milan. In the final, the 23-year-old native of Ancona beat Nick Itkin of the United States 15-13.

This is the seventh medal won by Italy at these World Championships: it is the second gold after two silvers and three bronzes. The Azzurri therefore make an encore in foil after the gold won yesterday by Alice Volpi in the final over Arianna Errigo. Too bad instead for Martina Criscio, who in women’s saber stopped just a step away from the podium.

Marini debuted in the round of 64 against Germany’s Faul 15-8. In the second round, the Ancona native of the Fiamme Oro then got the better of Japan’s Shikine 15-4. His run continued with a derby against Filippo Macchi won 15-11 and then secured the medal with a 15-9 win over Transalpine Savin in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, which saw tremendous support from the 2,000 people present at Mi.Co., Marini fought back hit after hit to overcome Lefort 15-13. The gold final was also a rematch of the one at the 2018 Under-20 World Championships in Verona. However, the result was, like that of the semifinal, different from what was seen five years ago among the Juniors, with Marini overcoming Itkin of the United States and becoming world champion for the first time in his career.

Only Marini stopped Filippo Macchi’s run. The Tuscan foilist easily won the first match against Israel’s Finstebush 15-3. In the second round, the Fiamme Oro athlete beat Austrian Lechner 15-14 at the last stroke, taking him to the round of 16. Defeat in the derby against Marini 15-11 diverted Macchi to ninth place in his first world championship.

Daniele Garozzo and Alessio Foconi’s competition stopped in the second round. The Rio 2016 Olympic champion started the day with a 15-8 success over Ukraine’s Yunes in the first round of assalti. The stop for the Sicilian came in the second match against Denmark’s Winterberg-Poulsen 15-11. Foconi, on the other hand, beat Cypriot Tofalides with a score of 15-8. But then in the second match he was defeated by Egypt’s Tolba 15-8.

In women’s saber, Martina Criscio won the first round against Spain’s Perez Cuenca with a score of 15-12. She then got the better of Turkey’s Nisanur Erbil after a hard-fought match 15-13, then another victory for the Fiamme Oro athlete in the round of 16 against Britain’s Maxwell that allowed her to enter the “top 8” of the world championships. The rainbow medal slipped away against the number 1 seeding, Japan’s Emura with a 15-8 thus ranking seventh.

Emura then won the gold medal for the second year in a row with success in the final over Greece’s Georgiadou 15-11, bronzes to the other Greek Gkontoura and Bulgaria’s Ilieva. Rossella Gregorio’s run ends in the round of 16. The Carabinieri athlete won the first match of the day against Hong Kong athlete Leung 15-10. Same score for the Salerno-born athlete in the second against No. 12 in the rankings, the American Tartakovsky. Her run came to a halt in the round of 16 where she was defeated by France’s Apithy-Brunet.

In the second round the stop for Michela Battiston. The Friulian opened her round with a wide 15-5 victory over Kazakhstan’s Gulik. In the sixteenth round, the Aeronautica Militare athlete saw her run stop at the last hit against China’s Yang 15-14 ending the test in 20th position. Finally, the first assault was fatal for Chiara Mormile. The Esercito saberist lost to Japan’s Takashima 15-12 ending her first world championship in 37th position.