Osipov adds team gold to individual silver for the Russian Federation team
Russia struck gold in the Cadet Men’s Foil team event in Porec, Croatia today. Ranked number one going into the event, the Russian team edged a brilliant gold medal match against long-standing rivals Italy.
Their ranking meant that Russia – who lined up with Ivan Bulyga, Zakhar Kozlov, Dmitrii Osipov & Temyr Aloian (reserve) - received a bye through the first eliminator and went on to beat Israel 45-15, Great Britain 45-24 and Germany 45-26 to make the gold medal match.
Italy’s line-up of Damiano Di Veroli, Giuseppe Franzoni, Marco Proietti & Gabriel Giardinelli (reserve) were ranked second and also received a bye through the first match. They went on to beat Romania 45-14, Hungary 45-37 and Poland 45-23 for their place in the final.
An intriguing and highly competitive match followed. Italy took the lead after the first leg and then the lead swapped hands in every leg until the sixth where the teams finished tied at 28-28. Russia brought on their substitute Aloian for Bulyga for the seventh leg and he did his job, taking Russia to a 34-32 lead against Proietti. Kozlov then extended that by two more hits handing over a 39-35 scoreline to his anchor, Osipov, who had claimed silver in the individual event. The Russian matched his strong opponent, Di Veroli, opening up the lead to 44-39 and was on the brink of securing the European title. However, a composed and methodical Di Veroli pegged him back hit-by-hit. At 43-44, Di Veroli had Osipov pinned inside his warning area but could not land the levelling hit before time ran out.
Russia secured the title 44-43 on time meaning that Italy had to settle for the silver medal. Poland claimed bronze by beating Germany 45-34 in the third-place play-off.
