Ukrainian sabre fencer Yuliya Bakastova defeated Russian army major Velikaya at the Fencing World Championships

Ukrainian sabre fencer Yulia Bakastova defeated "neutral" Russian Sofya Velikaya in a bout to advance to the 1/32 finals of the World Fencing Championships, which is currently taking place in Tbilisi (Georgia). This was reported by UNN with reference to a statement from the Fencing Federation of Ukraine (FFU).

Details

It is noted that to advance to the next round, the 29-year-old Kyiv resident needed to win one bout, "but what a bout — against a representative of the aggressor country, a major in the Russian army, two-time Olympic champion Sofya Velikaya, who, disregarding the very principle of neutrality, despite the outrage of fencers from many countries, was still allowed to participate in the World Championships in Tbilisi."

The bout took place in a tense struggle amidst the wild roar of the stands, which, despite the fact that the meeting was held in a small hall, seemed to be able to outperform yesterday's final in the large arena in men's sabre, which was won by the home fencer Sandro Bazadze, in terms of decibels.

It is indicated that support was also felt from representatives of other countries.

"They breathed in unison with Yulia. The fate of the bout was decided by one hit, and it went to the representative of Ukraine (15:14)!" - summarized the FFU.

Recall

The Ukrainian national team concluded its performance at the XVIII Summer European Youth Olympic Festival, winning 23 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze) and taking 10th place. This is almost twice as many as at the previous festival in Maribor-2023.

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