Foil, Italy is golden in the two team competitions

Italian foil is all gold in the team competitions that closed the Asian World Cup weekend: CT Simone Vanni’s Italian quartets triumphed in both the women’s leg in Busan and the men’s event in Fukuoka. In Korea Arianna Errigo, Martina Favaretto, Anna Cristino and Martina Batiniwon in the finals over the United States (45-38) after a dominated competition, and in Japan the boys’ team did the same, overcoming France in the decisive assault on the last stroke (44-43) and soaring to the top step of the podium with the signatures of Filippo Macchi, Tommaso Marini, Alessio Foconi and Davide Filippi.

Italy women’s foil dominated the team event that closed the specialty World Cup stage in Busan. Arianna Errigo, Martina Favaretto, Anna Cristino, and Martina Batinimade the Mameli Anthem resound for the second time in two days in South Korea. For CT Simone Vanni’s girls, it was the second consecutive victory after their success a month ago in Palma de Mallorca. The blue team’s ride began in the round of 16, beating Austria 45-10, and continued with a 44-32 win over Hungary in the quarters. In the semifinals, Italy also overcame Japan with authority, with a result of 30-20, thus detaching the pass for the final against the United States. And in the last act, too, the Italian foils pulled like champions, reacting to the initial disadvantage and taking control of the score from the middle of the match to close on 45-38. The quartet Errigo-Favaretto-Cristino-Batini thus made the last Women’s Foil World Cup stage of the calendar year triumphant. The expedition led by CT Simone Vanni – flanked in Busan by masters Fabio Galli and Alessandro Puccini, doctor Andreas Lucchetti and physiotherapist Massimiliano Aver- made a full haul, after the gold and bronze won yesterday in the individual competition respectively by Martina Batini and Martina Favaretto.

Italy’s men’s foil in Fukuoka was also extraordinary. Filippo Macchi, Tommaso Marini, Alessio Foconi and Davide Filippi (who replaced new papà Guillaume Bianchi) in the first match of the day, for the Ranking “mockery,” immediately found themselves facing the Russian lineup, under the initials AIN: a hard-fought assault, which the Azzurri were good at taking back after finding themselves under even seven hits, and closing in their own favor with a score of 45-40. Having broken the ice in a big way, the Italian foil fencers beat Egypt in the round of 16 (45-35) and Japan in the semifinals (45-36), thus gaining the right to draw the final against France. It was a beautiful concluding match between the Azzurri and the transalpine, with continuous tilts in the score and epilogue to be written in the extra minute, in which Pippo Macchi scored the decisive hit to Anas Anane, making the Hymn of Mameli resound in Japan as well. For the men’s group of Weapon Manager Simone Vanni represented in Fukuoka by masters Marco Vannini, Luca Simoncelli and Marco Ramacci, supported by physician Sebastiano Vasta and physiotherapist Sara Primavera – it is the first victory of the season after the silver medal in the debut in Palma de Mallorca.

Italy thus also closes 2025 as the No. 1 team in the World Ranking with both foils and foilists. The next World Cup stages for foil are scheduled for January 9-11: women’s competitions in Hong Kong and men’s in the historic Paris event. Finally, the extraordinary haul of Italian fencing in this World Cup weekend grows, now at nine medals: five gold, with the three individual all-female ones penned by Martina Batini in foil in Busan, Michela Battiston in saber in Orleans and Giulia Rizzi in epee in Vancouver, before the double success of the foil teams; plus four bronze medals (by foilists Martina Favaretto and Giulio Lombardi, saberist Mariella Viale and epeeist Matteo Galassi). And late today evening in Canada, the weekend will close with the two team trials in women’s and men’s epee.