ALGIERS. From the risk of elimination after the qualifying rounds to the second step of the podium in the individual saber: in the first stage of the World Cup, in Algiers, Michela Battiston has created a masterpiece.
A splendid performance for the Friulian from Malisana, standard bearer of the Air Force, who on Friday 11 November gave a fantastic start to the season to the national team of coach Nicola Zanotti, also enriched by the excellent sixth place of Martina Criscio.
For the 25-year-old from Friuli this is the best result of her career on an individual level, achieved on her seasonal debut in a completely surprising way. It is an important signal in view of next spring, in which the qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics will officially begin: a clear signal, which arrives already now, on the eve of the team test scheduled for tomorrow, for which Zanotti has chosen to experiment and insert new elements in the quartet.
Michela Battiston, who at the beginning of the summer won the European team silver in Turkey, this time will not be part of the team (in her place Chiara Mormile), but sends a clear and strong message with an authoritative silver.
In Algiers, the path to the individual medal began on Thursday with more than a few difficulties: Michela had in fact passed the elimination rounds with just 2 wins and 3 defeats, only to gain confidence in the knockout rounds. Yesterday she only surrendered in the final to the Spanish Lucia Martin Portugues (15-12), after a long match in her lead.
Silver does not affect an excellent performance. Michela’s frenzied Friday, who has been training at Dauno Foggia for some years, began with a sharp 15-7 to a champion of the caliber of the French Queroli. Then, on the 32nd draw, an equally clear 15-6 to the Japanese Ozaki, before flying among the “top 8” thanks to the 15-9 trimmed to the Chinese Shao. The certainty of the podium for Battiston came with a 15-14 win over the French Rifkiss, who in the 32 o’clock round had eliminated the blue Rossella Gregorio.
The Friulian continued to grind jabs and victories in the semifinals, beating the other transalpine Sara Balzer 15-13, before the stop in the final with Martin Portugues (12-15) who leaves a hint of regret thinking about Michela in the 11-6 lead . She will see the attack again, with coach Zanotti and with her teacher Benedetto Buenza, alongside her also in Algiers with the blue staff, but in the meantime she celebrates a screaming result. Today it’s the turn of the female swordsmen in Tallin. Udinese Giulia Rizzi will be on the platform in the 64th round, joining the already qualified Mara Navarria.