Ukrainian fencer Roman Svichkar won his debut “gold” at the World Cup stages. In Astana, Kazakhstan, the Ukrainian defeated local athlete Ruslan Kurbanov in the final.
On the last day of the World Cup stage, the men's competition took place. 264 athletes took part in the men's epee, including eight representatives of the Ukrainian national team.
The best result among Ukrainians was demonstrated by Roman Svichkar, who became the winner of the stage in Astana. In the final, the Kharkiv resident defeated Kazakh fencer Ruslan Kurbanov with a score of 15:12.
On his way to the World Cup gold, Svishkar also defeated the bronze medalist of the 2024 Olympics, Mohammed El Sayed from Egypt. In the end, the Ukrainian defeated his opponent with a score of 15:7.
What does the Candlemaker medal mean?
- For Svishkar, this is the first gold medal at the World Cup level. Before that, the 32-year-old fencer had only a “bronze” at the Bern stage in 2019. Overall, this is the first medal for Ukraine in the World Cup season.
- The last time Ukrainian fencers became stage medalists was in May 2025, when Vlad Kharkiv won bronze in epee.
- For the Ukrainian national team, this is the first gold medal since February 2024. The last time Ukrainian fencers won was Olga Kharlan, winning the World Cup stage in Lima in sabre fencing.
- Among men, Svichkar is the first Ukrainian since 2022. Then Volodymyr Stankevych won the May stage of the World Cup in Tbilisi in epee fencing.
In 2025, Svichkar also became the first Ukrainian European champion since 1994, defeating the host of the competition, Matteo Garassi, with whom Svichkar crossed paths again at the World Cup stage, but this time at the quarter-final stage.