U23 MEN’S SABRE REPORT
It was double gold for France on day one of the U23 European Championships as Maxime Pianfetti followed in his teammate, Eva Lacheray’s footsteps to take the Men’s Sabre European title.
In a field of 55, Pianfetti won all six of his first-round matches and ranked second for the knockout stages. His progress through the draw saw him follow a bye in the round of 64 with wins over Nitu (ROU) 15-6, Kakauridze (GEO) 15-8 and Retchia (GEO) 15-10 to make the semi-finals. Teammate Leandre Ollivier stood in his way in the top four, but Pianfetti progressed 15-10.
The other semi-final contest saw Piotr Szczepanik (POL) defeat 2019 Junior European champion Matteo Neri (FRA) 15-5 for his place in the final.
Pianfetti, who had recently made the quarterfinals at the senior Grand Prix in Padua, used excellent decision making off the line, in the final, to storm into a 5-0 lead. By the break the Frenchman was 8-1 up and he went on to claim the European crown with a 15-5 victory.
