Classic Encounter Sees France beat Italy to Gold
France today secured the final cadet European title in Porec, Croatia in a classic encounter with long-standing rivals Italy in Cadet Men’s Team Sabre tournament.
The French team were ranked second for the tournament and lined up with Albin Guyonnaud, Remi Garrigue, Ugo Latapy & Francois Maruelle (reserve). After a bye they beat Azerbaijan 45-31, Belarus 45-25 and number two seeds Russia 45-34 to secure their place in the final.
In the other half of the draw, number five seeds Italy were also on great form. Their line-up was Emanuele Nardella, Marco Mastrullo and Edoardo Cantini with Leonardo Tocci in reserve. A bye through the round of 32 was followed up with victories over Turkey 45-23, Spain 45-37 and number one seeds Germany 45-37.
A mouth-watering gold medal match was a fitting finale to the Cadet events here in Porec. Italy started the stronger as Nardella, Mastrullo and Cantini edged them ahead 15-14 a third of the way through the match. A strong fourth leg from Frenchman Guyonnaud saw him score six unanswered hits and the French team went on to lead 30-27 with three legs to go. Italy responded in the seventh, bringing on Tocci for Mastrullo but were 35-30 down with just two bouts remaining. Despite Italy outscoring France by 11 points to 10 in those fights, Garrigue took France to the European title 45-41.
Russia beat Germany 45-35 to secure the bronze medal. That meant that Colin Heathcock leaves the Championship with individual gold and team bronze whilst his teammate Valentin Meka was presented with his second bronze on the final night of the Cadet event.
The Championships continues tomorrow with the start of the Junior individual events.
