Hungary’s Oszkar Vajda won the Cadet Men’s Sabre European title, pushing Hungary to the top of the medal standings.
Ranked 9th in a field of 77 fencers, Vajda boasted 6/6 wins in the preliminary round to claim the 3rd seed entering the direct elimination. Vajda comfortably beat Adrian Roman Blanque (ESP) 15-5 in the round of 32 and then narrowly defeted Finn Buchmann (GER) 15-14 in the subsequent round of 16. Vajda then proceeded to win over teammate Zsadany Papp (HUN) 15-13 to secure a spot in the semi-final, where he managed to defeat 2nd-ranked Tom Couderc (FRA) 15-12 to claim a spot in the grand final.
His opponent, Romanian Casian Cidu, had a smoother path to the final. Ranked 4th out of the pools, he beat Felix Groves (GBR) 15-7, Thomas Avraam Grollios (GRE) 15-3 and Moritz Schenkel (GER) 15-8 to secure his first individual European medal. In the semi-final he faced Enes Talha Kalender (TUR) and after a tough match came out victorious 15-10 to advance to the grand final.
And what a final it was. As is the custom in sabre, both fencers were quick off at the start. Cidu kept his momentum from the day and went on to take the lead 8-4 in the first period after solid fencing in the middle of the piste. In the second period the two fencers traded hits back and forth and Cidu brought the score to a comfortable 11-6. However, Vajda then proceeded to take complete control of the match. Starting from a 6-11 deficit, Vajda scored an extraordinary 9(!) unanswered hits to bring home his first individual European title 15-9, adding to his team gold from 2022 and adding a third Hungarian gold in these championships.
Men's Saber Press Release
