France’s Mathilde Mouroux secured the title as European Champion in Women’s Sabre after a day of several tough matches.
Mouroux, world ranked no. 20, entered the direct elimination seeded 8th after dropping one bout in the pools. After a BYE in the round of 64, she had two comfortable wins against Maria Clementina Polli (ITA) 15-4 and Lexie Craze (GBR) 15-7. In the quarterfinal she beat 1st-seed and reigning bronze medallst Katinka Sugar Battai (HUN) 15-13 to reach the semifinal where she eventually came out on top after a hard-fought 15-14 match against Kira Keszei (HUN) 15-7.
The second finalist was world no. 1 and reigning silver medallist, Nisanur Erbil (TUR). Entering the direct elimination at 6th seed, Erbil had a BYE in the round of 64. She then reached the semifinals by defeating Michela Land (ITA) 15-11, Zarifa Huseynova (AZE) 15-10 and Manuela Spica (ITA) 15-13. In the semifinal Erbil displayed some convincing fencing and beat Amilia Stan (ROU) 15-8 to reach the final and potentially upgrading her silver medal from Novi Sad 2022.
The final began according to Erbil’s plan, and through strong control in the middle the Turkish fencer created an 8-5 lead entering the break. After the break Mouroux came out flying and managed to equalise the score to 10-10. Neither fencer could pull ahead and the gold medal match came to be decided by one final touch by Mouroux, who came out on top 15-14 to earn the title of European Junior Champion.
Junior Women's Saber
