The first Sabre Grand Prix of the season took place in Cairo (EGY), with veterans taking the top honors: Sang-Uk Oh and Sofya Velikaya.
Korea’s Oh, still just 22, won a Grand Prix event for the third year in a row (2017-18-19) and moved up to no. 4 in the FIE World Rankings. He earned his title over the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Champion, Hungary’s Aron Szilagyi, with a 15-10 finals win.
With the silver medal, Szilagyi moved up to no. 2 in the world rankings. American Eli Dershwitz lost in the quarterfinals, but remains no. 1.
Twice World Champion Velikaya (RUS) is now 33 and added to her glittering career with her 23rd Grand Prix medal (!) and her sixth win (6-7-10). She defeated a newcomer, Korean Sooyeon Choi, in the final, 15-12. It was Choi’s first career medal at a worldwide international competition. Summaries:
FIE Sabre Grand Prix
Cairo (EGY) ~ 22-24 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men: 1. Sang-Uk Oh (KOR); 2. Aron Szilagyi (HUN); 3. Sandro Bazadze (GEO) and Junho Kim (KOR). Semis: Szilagyi d. Bazadze, 15-5; Oh d. Kim, 15-5. Final: Oh d. Szilagyi, 15-10
Women: 1. Sofya Velikaya (RUS); 2. Sooyeon Choi (KOR); 3. Cecilia Berder (FRA) and Olga Kharlan (UKR). Semis: Velikaya d. Berder, 15-14; Choi d. Kharlan, 15-14. Final: Velikaya d. Choi, 15-12.
