The FIE World Cup Leg in men’s and women’s epee kicked off in Kazan. Upon the conclusion of the tournament the final participants’ lineup will be defined for the Tokyo Olympics, that’s why the importance of the competitions for the athletes is high indeed.
A total of 32 sets of medals will be contested at the Kazan Epee. First day of the tournament started with a weapon control and qualification fights for the right to make it through to the men’s main competition schedule. About 200 epee fencers from more than 50 countries went out on the Kazan Expo pistes, while 16 best scorers were exempt from the preliminary rounds.
“I intend to perform well in Kazan. For me these competitions are like a past stage. We have been training hard, gone through the four training camps. This tournament will show how good our job was. I wish I could see around Kazan better. When you are on a bus, you can see through the window how beautiful your city is,” Yan Sych from Ukraine told.
“Everybody wants to win, and I’m no exception. I will do my best,” the epee fencer from the Netherlands Tristan Tulen noted.
“These are my first competitions over the year, and I have been training for them for all this time. I like the way the tournament is organised. We are taken care of, and everything goes well. A lot of attention is paid to the athletes’ health care,” Alvaro Ibanez from Spain shared his impressions.
“I had expectations to perform not worse than before, and so it came out. I consistently have two wins in a poule. But I’m not disappointed, rather contented. I was down COVID, broke a rib. I have been training for about 3 weeks. I’m happy the competitions commenced. The life has begun, everything is reviving. I wish everything got back to normal life shortly, and results would be better. Everybody is happy the competitions being stage at all. I’ve been to Kazan a couple of times. I like Baumana Street, mosques, the Kremlin, and embankment is nice. It’s a good city!” said Sergey Losevskiy representing South Africa.
Press Office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects