Georgian fencer Sandro Bazadze secures gold medal at European Games

Georgia’s two-time European champion fencer Sandro Bazadze secured a gold medal at the European Games Krakow-Malopolska on Sunday.

The European Fencing Confederation noted Bazadze, who is topping the international rankings, was the “overwhelming favourite” in the run-up to the competition. 

He was dominant in the pool, winning all six bouts and securing the first seed entering the direct elimination”, it said in summary of the 29-year-old’s performance at the event.

On his way to the semifinal, Bazadze defeated Angelos Pagkalos of Greece, András Szatmári of Hungary, and Andriy Yahodka of Ukraine. In the semi-final he faced Hungary’s three-time Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi and won 15-10 to advance to the final. 

Bazadze’s opponent in the final was Poland’s krzysztof Kaczkowski, with the Confederation noting “many emotional outbursts” by the Georgian on his way to the tense 15-13 win.

I am really happy with today, the biggest competition of the year [...] This is not the end, but I will work every day to always do my best”, he said in reaction to the result.

More than 7,000 athletes were competing in 26 sports and 29 disciplines for 253 gold medals at the European Games running between June 21-July 2 in Krakow.