Alessio Foconi wins men’s individual foil title, GB secures first World Fencing Championships medal

Whilst the night belonged to Foconi, it also had special significance for Great Britain who won its first World Fencing Championships medal in 58 years.

Foconi, ranked second in the world, beat Great Britain’s Richard Kruse in the Final to secure the title for Italy the first time since 2011. It also means the Italians have now won a record 47 world championship medals in individual men’s foil competition, including 13 golds.

Foconi’s route to the Final and gold medal saw him beat Germany’s Peter Joppich 15-11 in the last 64 stage, overwhelm Poland’s Michal Siess 15-1 a round later at the round of 32 stage, before negotiating a tough last 16 clash with Canada’s Maximilien Van Haaster 15-12.

That brought a quarter-final meeting with France’s Enzo Lefort which the Italian won 15-8, before Foconi beat Korea’s Heo Jun 15-12 in the semi-finals, this after the Korean had beaten Foconi’s Italian teammate and Olympic gold medallist Daniele Garozzo in the quarter-finals, 15-14.

The final with Kruse was largely dominated by the Italian who took the title thanks to a 15-8 scoreline. The silver medal for Kruse however capped a fine performance in the competition and was the first medal for Great Britain in any event at the senior fencing world championships in more than a half century.

The 34-year-old world number four, who narrowly missed out on the first British Olympic fencing medal in 52 years when he lost his bronze medal match in 2016, beat compatriot James Andrew-Davis in the quarter-finals and overcame Spain’s Carlos Llavador, 15-11 in the semi-final.

Other early casualties in the competition included reigning world champion Dmitry Zherebchenko of Russia exiting proceedings at the round-of-64 stage as he fell to Algeria’s Hamid Sintes 15-11, whilst world number eight, Alexander Massialas of USA also fell at the same stage to China’s Mengkai Huang 15-13.