Cross the flags: what to expect from the Russian national team at the Fencing World Cup

From July 22 to July 30, the World Fencing Championships will be held in Hong Kong — the main start of the season, where 12 sets of awards will be awarded. It will be special for the Russian team — our athletes will compete under the national flag for the first time since 2019. Olympic champions Yana Yegoryan and Olga Nikitina, world champion Kamil Ibragimov, Olympic medalists Kirill and Anton Borodachev, European champion Aizanat Murtazayeva and other star athletes of the country are in the application. The minimum task is to perform no worse than at the European Championships in June, where the Russians won four medals, including one gold in the women's team sabre.

Breaking up with sanctions

More than 1,000 athletes from more than 100 countries and regions are expected to arrive in Hong Kong. Over the course of nine days, men and women will determine the champions in rapier, sword and saber — in individual and team competitions. The Special Administrative Region of China is hosting the Adult World Championship for the first time, and the tournament itself is part of the qualification cycle for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The hosts will play as a separate team called "Hong Kong, China". Fencers from the region and mainland China will compete in both individual and team tournaments.

This will be a very important start for the Russian national team: on June 2, the executive committee of the International Fencing Federation, following the principles of the Olympic Charter, allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete with national symbols. This happened even before a similar decision by the IOC, but at the European Championships in France in June, the use of our flag was postponed. Taking into account the cancellation of the 2020 World Cup due to covid and anti-doping sanctions at the OI 2020, the upcoming championship will be the first major international tournament for Russians since 2019, at which the team will enter the track without sanctions restrictions.

Before flying to Hong Kong, the national team holds a training camp in Beijing. Taking into account the long absence of international practice before the World Championships, the Russians achieved notable success at the recent World Championships in France: the sabre team won gold, Yana Yegoryan became the second in the individual tournament, and rapiers Vladislav Penyushkina and Anton Borodachev brought home the bronze in individual competitions.

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At the continental championship in France, our athletes took the third place in the medal standings.

Waiting for a rematch

Our fans will pay special attention to the women's sabre. The main star of the Russian national team, Yana Yegoryan, will have to defend her personal title, which she won a year ago in Tbilisi. Her main competitors include two—time world champion Misaki Emura and French national team leader Sarah Balzer. Olympic champions Sofia Velikaya and Sofia Pozdnyakova continue their careers, but this year they miss major international competitions. As well as Ukrainian Olga Harlan, who went on maternity leave.

Competition between Russia, South Korea and Hungary is traditionally high in sabre team competitions. Due to the long absence from major competitions, the Russians will have a lower seeding, so a meeting with one of the favorites is possible at an early stage. Kirill Borodachev will be one of the central figures of the Russian team in the men's foil. He expects to meet again with Hong Kong representative Choi Ryan Chun Ying, to whom he lost in the final of the 2025 World Cup.

"I would like the rematch with the Hong Kong man to take place at his home World Cup in 2026," Borodachev explained to Izvestia. — We can say that we have fully returned to the international arena. Now we will prove that we are the strongest athletes.

Two-time Olympic champion Chen Ka Lung from Hong Kong is also among the favorites of the men's foil. In the women's sword, Olympic champion Katrina Lechis (Estonia), Alberta Santuccio (Italy), Esther Muhari (Hungary), Song Se Ra (South Korea) and Irina Bakaldina (Kazakhstan) are among the main contenders. Olympic champion Oh Sang Wook (South Korea), world champion Sandro Bazadze (Georgia) and Sebastien Patrice (France) are expected to compete for gold in the men's sabre. In team disciplines, in addition to Russians, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Kazakhstanis can be considered candidates for high places.

The prize fund of the World Championship will be $1.02 million. The winner of the individual tournament will receive $40 thousand, the silver medalist — $ 20 thousand, the bronze — $ 10 thousand. In team competitions, $50,000 is provided for gold, $25,000 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze.

The first three days of the World Cup are reserved for qualification in individual competitions. The main tournaments and finals will be held from July 25 to 27, and the team competitions from July 28 to July 30. The official opening ceremony is scheduled for July 25.

Of course, anything can happen in sports, so our athletes and officials are very careful in their forecasts right now. But it is obvious that the very fact of the return of the national flag is important for the Russian national team. After many years of restrictions, the team will return to the main start of the season in its usual status, and the result in Hong Kong will show how quickly Russian fencers were able to adapt to global competition and return to their previous very high level. At the 2019 World Cup, we became the leaders of the medal standings, winning three gold, three silver and one bronze awards.

Tournament schedule

July 22nd. Men. Rapier, qualification. Women. Sword, qualification;

July 23rd. Men. Sword, qualification. Women. Saber, qualification;

July 24. Women. Rapier, qualification. Men. Saber, qualification;

July 25th. Men. The rapier. Women. The sword;

July 26. Men. The sword. Women. The saber;

July 27. Women. The rapier. Men. The saber;

July 28. Team tournaments. Men. The rapier. Women. The sword;

July 29. Team tournaments. Men. The sword. Women. The saber;

July 30th. Team tournaments. Women. The rapier. Men. The saber.