The men's épée fencing team of Ukraine, consisting of Roman Svichkar, Nikita Koshman, Yevhen Makienko, and Mykhailo Krasniuk, won silver medals at the world championship, reports UNN citing the NOC of Ukraine.
Ukrainian épée fencers are silver medalists of the World Fencing Championship. This is Ukraine's first team award at world championships since 2019, when Ukrainians also finished second
The World Fencing Championship is hosted by Hong Kong, China, from July 22 to 30.
The path to medals for the wards of senior coach Ihor Reizlin turned out to be truly thrilling.
Starting the tournament with a confident victory over Sweden (45:35) in the 1/16 finals, the Ukrainians then demonstrated miracles of endurance and character. In the 1/8 finals against Poland, the leader of our team, Roman Svichkar, made a fantastic comeback: entering the final bout with a score of 18:25, he won his segment 23:15 and snatched a victory for Ukraine on priority - 41:40.
In the quarterfinals, Ihor Reizlin's wards defeated the world ranking's number two - the Swiss team - for the second time in the last two months. After an even fight, the fate of the match was again decided by the final bout of Roman Svichkar, who led the Ukrainians to the semifinals - 39:37.
The semifinal against the Israeli team was no less dramatic. The Ukrainians had an advantage of eight touches during the match, but the opponents managed to come back. The winning touch in extra time on priority was delivered by Roman Svichkar, securing our team a victory - 45:44 and a spot in the world championship final.
In the final, the Ukrainians' opponents were the Kazakhstan team, coached by Ukrainian specialist Oleksandr Horbachuk. The bout ended with a score of 40:45 in favor of the opponents.
Just a month ago, the quartet consisting of Roman Svichkar, Nikita Koshman, Yevhen Makienko, and Mykhailo Krasniuk won bronze medals at the European Championship, and now they have risen to the second step of the podium at the world championship.
For Yevhen Makienko and world championship debutant Mykhailo Krasniuk, these are their first career world championship medals. Nikita Koshman became a two-time medalist of world championships (after last year's bronze in individual events), and the most experienced member of the team, Roman Svichkar, climbed onto the world championship podium for the third time. He was part of the team that brought Ukraine its previous team medal at the world championship in 2019, and helped the team return to the podium after seven years.
The Ukrainian women's sabre fencers, meanwhile, defeated the team of the aggressor country and stopped one blow away from the semifinals, reported the National Fencing Federation of Ukraine. Our team was represented by experienced Alina Komashchuk, young Oleksandra Bondar and Daria Hontsova, as well as 18-year-old world championship debutant Viktoriia Korotchenko.
After a confident starting victory over Kazakhstan (45:33), the Ukrainian women met the world ranking's number three, the team of the aggressor country. Our Olympic champion Alina Komashchuk delivered a simply phenomenal comeback: entering the final bout with a score of 33:40, she won it 12:4 and snatched a victory for Ukraine with one blow (45:44).
Another dramatic ending occurred in the quarterfinals against the US team. Trailing 13:25 at the midpoint of the match, the Ukrainian women managed to close the gap. Komashchuk entered the final duel with the same score of 33:40 as in the previous meeting with russia. She again managed to restore the status quo, but the final phrase this time remained with the opponent (44:45).
In the lower part of the bracket, the wards of Yevhen Statsenko defeated the vice-world champions of 2025, representatives of Korea (45:39), and lost to the bronze medalists of the 2024 Olympics, the Japanese (39:45), ultimately finishing in sixth place.