CAIRO. Double blue medal at the Fencing World Championships in Egypt. Italy rises to five in the world championship at the Indoor Sports Halls Complex in Cairo, skewering two gems in the team tests: a silver in the women’s sword and a bronze in the men’s saber.
Rossella Fiamingo, Federica Isola, Mara Navarria and Alberta Santuccio have secured a place on the desired areas by overcoming Switzerland in the quarterfinals (45-33) and then France in the semifinals (30-29). Nothing to do, however, in the final assault against the South Koreans, Olympic vice-champions in office, who won 45-37 on the girls trained by Dario Chiadò. For Fiamingo, girlfriend of the star of swimming in the pool and in open water Gregorio Paltrinieri, it was the second medal of this review after the bronze in the individual.
Bronze sabers, Samele: “It’s nice to end such a difficult season with a flourish for a thousand reasons”
Happy ending, however, for Luigi Samele, Luca Curatoli, Pietro Torre and Michele Gallo. After the defeat in the semifinals (45-42) against Hungary of the legend Aaron Szilagyi (3 consecutive Olympic golds and world champion king for the first time right here last Monday), the Azzurri redeemed themselves against Germany. After a complicated start (0-5), Curatoli redeemed himself with a 14-4 partial to the best German saber (Matyas Szabo) to sign the overtaking (30-29). Good performance in the whole assault also for the rookie Torre (born in 2001), a young man from Livorno who grew up in the myth of Aldo Montano. Samele then thought to close the accounts (45-42) against Szabo, to give him a heavy medal and make them explode with joy.
«We are always there, we have been here for six years and it is a beautiful thing – comments Curatoli -. Being back on the podium with a new team and two youngsters says a lot and leaves great sensations for the Olympic qualification that awaits us and which will be anything but easy ».
Samele breathes a sigh of relief (double silver at the Tokyo 2020 Games), in a complicated 2022 between physical ailments and war in Ukraine, which hit her saber partner Olga Kharlan, unleashed today in the stands. «It is the culmination of a truly difficult year, with that dramatic epilogue of the individual with the medal faded for a jab – comments the Apulian financier -. I had a little bit of pent-up anger and taking home this medal takes a lot off us. I am happy that we have done half of our duty today ».
The two young people also smile at the first acute. “It has been a fantastic World Cup since the day of the preliminaries,” confirmed Gallo from Salerno. Torre echoes him: «I didn’t really know what to expect from this review, but we are Italy with four strong guys between experience and youth. This beautiful medal that spurs us on for the next few years. Come on guys!”.
On 22 July (live on TV from 3.30 pm on Eurosport 2 and Raisport) Italy will go hunting for gold with the women’s foil Dream Team on a day in which even the swordsmen dream of a medal.