Italy also stars in Hong Kong: four medals in foil
Flake World Cup: spectacle and poker of blue medals in Hong Kong
After Tbilisi, the hard law of CT Stefano Cerioni’s Italy also imposes itself in Hong Kong: four blue medals in the two individual competitions of the foil World Cup stage on the Asian platforms, with Guillaume Bianchi triumphing in the men’s event, accompanied on the podium by Tommaso Marini who finishes third, while in the women’s competition come Elena Tangherlini’s silver and the bronze of the Italian flag bearer at Paris 2024, Arianna Errigo.
A’genuine show of strength, the’umpteenth, for Italian foil. Guillaume Bianchi, frascatano of the Fiamme Gialle, conquers his first success in the World Cup in the twilight of a fantastic performance that also saw him the winner in the semifinal derby over the world champion Tommaso Marini, the Ancona man of the Fiamme Oro flying in double figures in his palmares with the tenth career medal in the rainbow circuit. And among the men, also worth recording are the “top 8” finishes by Filippo Macchi and Davide Filippi, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Great Italy among the women as well: second silver medal of the season in the Cup for Elena Tangherlini, from the Marche region of the ’Esercito, who comes close to another feat just like last January in Paris after a great test, and è always resounding Arianna Errigo, the Carabiniera from Lombardy who with the bronze in Hong Kong touches 58 medals in the rainbow circuit, staggering numbers. At the foot of the podium, in the women’s competition, Francesca Palumbo who è ranked sixth.
Star of the day Guillaume Bianchi. The class ’97 financier at the start of the day rifled a double 15-7 first to Poland’s Jakubowski and then to Korea’s Kim. In the round of 16, a 15-1 success over Frenchman Lefort preceded Bianchi’s landing on the podium, thanks to a 15-13 win over Korean Lee. In the semifinals, in the all-Italian challenge with teammate Tommaso Marini, Guillaume è imposed himself 15-3 thus flying to the last act, where he put the exclamation point on his masterpiece competition beating 15-10 the Japanese Shikine and thus bringing home his first World Cup success.
In a sign of continuity, podium number 10 in his career on the circuit for Tommaso Marini, this time on the third step. The Ancona policeman eliminated first Australian Bosnic 15-7 and then French Chastanet 15-3. In the round of 16, the success over another transalpine, Loisel, with a score of 15-10, opened wide the doors of the “top 8” for Tommy, who flew into the “medal zone” thanks to the 15-11 with which he overcame the American Louie. For the reigning world champion, stopped in the semifinals in the derby with Bianchi, a valuable bronze. Having said the excellent performances of Filippo Macchi and Davide Filippi, fifth and sixth, also Giulio Lombardi (14°) and Edoardo Luperi (16°) had entered instead among the “top 16”. Next, 21° Francesco Ingargiola, 35° Alessio Foconi and 51° Federico Pistorio.
Silver and bronze for Italy in women’s foil signed by Elena Tangherlini, who came from the qualifiers, and for Arianna Errigo who celebrates in her own way the very recent election as Italian flag bearer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. For both started the day with 15-8 victories, by Tangherlini over Japan’s Takeyama and Errigo over the U.S. Cho. And in the following round Italian derby for both medalists training in Frascati: Elena Tangherlini overcame the No. 1 on the scoreboard Martina Favaretto at the last stroke, 15-14, while Arianna Errigo defeated Anna Cristino, who was fresh off her first podium in Tbilisi, 15-8. In the round of 16 for the Marche member of the Army, success over the American Rhodes 15-13, while the Brianza champion of the Carabinieri triumphed 15-5 over Poland’s Walczyk-Klimaszyk. In the assaults that were worth the podium Elena beat the U.S. Devore 15-11, while Ary è set 15-8 over Japan’s Kikuchi. In the semifinals, Tangherlini continued her exhilarating run against the U.S., beating Dubrovich 15-7 and detaching the pass for the final, which escaped instead Errigo, stopped 15-13 by’the other American Weintraub, who è managed to come back in the last bars of the match.
