The meteoric rise of American Sabre star Eli Dershwitz continued in Warsaw (POL) on Saturday with his third career FIE World Cup gold, as he defeated Italy’s Luca Curatoli in the final, 15-9.
Still only 23, the Harvard student steadily eliminated his opponents, winning 15-12, 15-6, then a 15-13 win over teammate (and Rio silver medalist) Daryl Homer, then sailed past Korea’s Jong-Hyun Lee in the quarterfinals, 15-11, to get to the semis.
There, he had to dispatch a 2018 World Championships Team gold medalist, Sang-Uk Oh. The bout was a struggle, but Dershwitz managed a 15-14 to win get to the final. But he defeated Curatoli, his fourth win in five tries against the Italian for his third World Cup win in three years.
The victory had special meaning for Dershwitz, as he noted on Instagram: “GOLD MEDAL AT THE POLAND WORLD CUP! Amazing and emotional day as my mother told me this morning that my Polish grandparents, who came to America 75 years ago, would be watching over me today.”
In three years on the circuit, Dershwitz now has seven medals, including last year’s World Championships silver.
Curatoli did get a gold on the weekend, however, as he was part of the victorious Italian team entry which defeated France for the Team title on Sunday. Summaries:
FIE World Cup
Warsaw (POL) ~ 1-3 January 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Sabre: 1. Eli Dershwitz (USA); 2. Luca Curatoli (ITA); 3. Sang-Uk Oh (KOR) and Max Hartung (GER). Semis: Curatoli d. Hartung, 15-14; Dershwitz d. Oh, 15-14. Final: Dershwitz d. Curatoli, 15-9.
Men’s Team Sabre: 1. Italy (Berre, Curatoli, Montano, Samele); 2. France; 3. Russia; 4. Hungary. Semis: France d. Russia, 45-38; Italy d. Hungary, 45-37. Final: Italy d. France, 45-44.
