Japan's Matsuyama, Kazakhstan's Bakaldina win Gold on Day 3 in Men's Foil and Women's Epee

New Delhi [India], June 22 (ANI): The third day of the 26th Asian Senior Fencing Championships in New Delhi witnessed several upsets and intense contests as the individual events concluded at Bharat Mandapam on Sunday. Serving as a key qualifier for the upcoming Asian Games and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the competition saw Japan continue its strong run through Kyosuke Matsuyama’s men’s foil gold, while Irina Bakaldina made history by securing Kazakhstan’s first-ever individual women’s epee title at the championships, according to a press release.

The young Indian contingent delivered promising performances on home pitches. In the Women’s Epee, Prachi Lohan led the local charge with a 22nd-place finish, followed closely by rising star Taniksha Khatri in 29th. Mitva Jesangbhai Chaudhari finished 35th, and Yashkeerat Kaur Hayer took 43rd. On the Men’s Foil side, Sachin Sachin paced the home squad in 25th place, while Sanasam Hemash Singh finished 37th, Tejas Manoj Patil took 47th, and Aditya Aditya finished 57th.

The day became a graveyard for tournament favourites. In Men’s Foil, Hong Kong’s reigning back-to-back Olympic gold medalist Cheung Ka Long was shocked in the quarterfinals by South Korea’s Im Cheolwoo, leaving Cheung in 6th place overall. Defending Asian champion Choi Chun Yin Ryan of Hong Kong was also knocked out in the quarterfinals, falling to Japan’s Kyosuke Matsuyama to finish 5th. In the Women’s Épee bracket, South Korea’s defending champion Song Se-ra was stopped in the semifinals by Kazakhstan’s Irina Bakaldina, forcing her to settle for bronze.

The finals delivered incredible intensity. In Men’s Foil, Japan showed its strength as teammates Kyosuke Matsuyama and Kazuki Iimura fought in an all-Japanese final. Matsuyama won the match to take Gold, leaving Iimura with Silver, while South Korea’s Im Cheolwoo and Jeonghyun Youn shared the bronze.

In Women’s Epee, Irina Bakaldina clinched a historic first-ever individual women’s epee gold for Kazakhstan by defeating Hong Kong’s Kaylin Sin Yan Hsieh in a fierce final. Hsieh took home the silver, while Tamaki Terayama of Japan and South Korea’s Song Se-ra shared the bronze.

With these results, Japan holds the championship lead with 3 gold medals from the first four events. These final individual standings now set up the brackets and psychological momentum for the highly anticipated team events starting tomorrow. (ANI)

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