 |
|
The Chinese women's epee team poses at the medal awarding ceremony of the 2018 World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, July 26. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn] |
The Chinese women's epee team scooped the bronze medal on the seventh day of the 2018 World Fencing Championships, beating Russia 45- 42 in the bronze medal match in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Wednesday.
Sun Yiwen, together with Zhu Mingye, Xu Chengzi and the new-comer Lin Sheng, defeated Germany 45-36 in quarter-finals, but lost to South Korea in a close battle 21-25 in the semi-final match.
"Unlike the South Korean veterans who have lived through hundreds of battles, our team was inexperienced and the team members are still getting used to each other," said Chinese epee fencer Lin.
"Though the result is not as satisfactory as last year when the team claimed silver at the 2017 championships, the bronze medal gives us much impetus especially when the team is still so young," said Sun.
Hugues Obry, a retired French fencer and the coach of the Chinese epee team, hailed this year's championship as the best of his life. "Wuxi is a very beautiful city and the people of China are with us, so I think we will all remember this for the rest of our lives."
Speaking of the previous individual events in which Chinese fencers were below par, he said that he's angry about the performance as they didn't fence like they can do, but as a team they are stronger.
Obry also expressed his hope that the team can go on to secure gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The United States edged South Korea 18-17, clinching their first gold medal at the championships in final of the women's epee team event, while South Korea sealed a tremendous victory in the men's team sabre event, beating Italy 45-39 in the final.
