First gold of the Epee of Kazan goes to Ukrainian fencer
Victory of Ukranian Igor Reizlin marked the end of the individual tournament among men at the FIE World Cup Leg in Kazan. The fourth seed surpassed Hungarian Gergely Siklosi (No.3) – 15:11.
Morning round of the men’s tournament commenced with a big sensation. The first seed of the “Epee of Kazan” Sergey Bida lost to No. 64 to Mario Persu from Romania – 14:15, so was eliminated from the medals contention. Right in the first match, No. 2 Masaru Yamada from Japan, who turned out inferior to Dane Frederik Von Der Osten, was also defeated. Such results definitely added intrigue to the competition.
Interesting and unexpected results did not diminish in the next round, and Elmir Alimzhanov’s confident performance was one of the surprises. On Friday, he went out of his way to the main tournament through the qualification, and on Sunday, he first defeated No. 10 Kazuyasu Minobe from Japan (15:13), and then claimed bronze, losing to the titled Siklosi in the tight semifinals – 14:15.
“I am very happy. I have been waiting for this tournament for a whole year, since nothing was staged due to COVID. I just hoped to fence here, for me it was already joy and a holiday. I had no stress and just enjoyed myself,” Elmir said.
In the second semi-final, Igor Reizlin was stronger than the Egyptian Ahmed Elsayed, and in the final, he beat Siklosi by a good margin.
“The team tournament is very important to me and today I did enjoy fencing. It was the first tournament over a year, but it was not difficult to get back from training. My team got prepared really well,” Siklosi told.
“After a one-year break, the first fights were physically difficult, and after it got easier. An unexpected result for me. After Budapest last year, we were locked down at home, staying inside for two or three months, and this is very hard. I am used to training every day but I did not have it. What is more, there was a psychological moment – we did not know when the next tournament would come, whether Olympics would take place. It is a pity there were no spectators due to the restrictions. I missed them,” Igor Reizlin commented on his victory.
Fencers’ team events kick off on Monday, March 22.
Press Office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects