Swiss fencer Sven Vineis, ranked 19th in the junior world ranking, battled through a field of 83 fencers to secure Switzerland’s first gold medal and second overall.
Starting his day with 3 victories in the pool round, Vineis was given the 37th seed entering the elimination. Throughout the day he beat Matyas Pavlik (CZE) 15-12, Filipe Frazao (POR) 15-14, Jan Schuhmann (AUT) 15-9, and Maruan Osman-Touson (HUN) 9-8. In the semi-final he defeated Ilian Bobrov (EST) 15-8 to reach the final.
French fencer Gaetan Billa, the second competitor in the final, finished the pool round with a clean sheet and earned himself the 3rd seed in the direct elimination. To reach the semi-finals he beat Leonardas Kalininas (LTU) 15-14, Barat Guliyev (AZE) 15-11, Frantisek Coufal (CZE) 15-7, and Nikita Koshman (UKR) 13-12. In the semi-final, he won a nail-biter against Giulio Gaetani (ITA) 15-14 to reach the gold medal match.
In the final, Vineis had the upper hand and won the championship bout 15-13 to be crowned the European U23 Men’s Epee Champion.
