Enzo Lefort of France celebrates after defeating Tommaso Marini of Italy during the men's foil individual final at the 2022 Fencing World Championships in Cairo, Egypt on July 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
France leads the medal tally as the 2022 Fencing World Championships reaches its halfway mark.
CAIRO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- As the 2022 Fencing World Championships reached its halfway mark on Wednesday, France led the medal tally with three gold medals and a silver.
World No. 1 and Tokyo Olympic men's epee individual champion Romain Cannone of France continued his dominance, beating Kazuyasu Minobe of Japan to pocket the gold.
Enzo Lefort and Ysaora Thibus added another two gold medals in the men's and women's foil individual for France, while compatriot Maxime Pianfetti claimed a surprising silver in the men's sabre individual.
Romain Cannone (R) of France competes against Kazuyasu Minobe of Japan during the men's epee individual final at the 2022 Fencing World Championships in Cairo, Egypt on July 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
With the absence of Tokyo Olympic women's epee champion Sun Yiwen, China aimed to gain experience at the fencing worlds as only eight of its 26 participating fencers competed at the Tokyo Olympics.
20-year-old Yu Sihan of China made it to the quarterfinals in the women's epee individual but lost to Alexandra Ndolo of Germany 14-13 to finish eighth in her World Championships debut, while Zhu Mingye's seventh place in the same category was China's best finish in individual events in Cairo.
The remaining team events will run through July 23. ■