Gergő Szemes won a bronze medal in men’s foil at the World Fencing Championships in Tbilisi on Wednesday. The Hungarian medal was already assured in the quarterfinals, as Szemes competed against his Hungarian teammate, Dániel Dósa. With this result, a Hungarian fencer returned to the World Championship podium in the discipline, 52 years after Jenő Kamuti.
In the main draw of 64, the 22-year-old fencer defeated Veljko Cuk of Serbia, Carlos Llavador of Spain, Alexander Choupenitche of the Czech Republic, and then Dániel Dósa, before losing 15-11 to Ryan Choi Chun Yin of Hong Kong in the semifinals.
In the beginning, the Hungarian fencer could not find his rhythm against his very fast opponent, who won the Asian Championship this year. Most of the action went according to Choi’s plan, and Szemes fell seriously behind, having to somehow climb back from 1-8 and 2-9. He had a chance to do so, as some of his thrusts were accurate and well-timed, reducing the gap. The score even reached 8-10 and 11-13. From then on, however, only the name of Choi, the 2023 World Championship bronze medalist and 12th in the world rankings, appeared on the scoreboard.
Gold medalist Ryan Choi Chun Yin (L2) of Hong Kong, silver medalist Kirill Borodachov (L) of Russia, bronze medalists Gergő Szemes (R2) of Hungary, and Maxime Pauty (R) of France. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Szemes said that he felt he had “fallen asleep” at the beginning of the bout. “I did not get the hang of it, and in the end, I did not dare to continue what worked later. Basically, I would describe myself as a slower fencer, and I could not react quickly to this bout. I knew what he was going to do, but it is one thing to wait for the bout from the outside and another to be inside when you have to do something to succeed.”
He summed up that it had been an eventful day, each bout was different, and
he felt that the one against Dósa was the most difficult both physically and mentally. He explained that it is difficult to fight someone you fence with on a daily basis.
Gergő Szemes (L) and Dániel Dósa in the quarterfinals. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
He revealed that he was not the most stressed before the semifinal, but in the quarterfinals, when Dósa had already advanced and he knew that if he succeeded, there would be a Hungarian on the podium. “Overall, it was good, but I do feel some disappointment,” he summarized his feelings.
The last time Hungary won a medal in the men’s individual foil at the World Championships was in 1973, when Jenő Kamuti finished third in Gothenburg.
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