The Bulgarian national women's sabre team achieved a remarkable ranking at the World Championship held in Georgia. The team, including Olga Khramova, Yoana Ilieva, Emma Neykova, and Veronika Vasileva under the guidance of coach Ivaylo Vodenov, recorded the best performance in the history of Bulgarian women's fencing.
In an extremely competitive contest, the team demonstrated exceptional fighting spirit and maturity. Initially, they eliminated the Greek team in the preliminary round, and subsequently achieved an impressive victory against the Ukrainian team with a score of 45:41. A key moment was the final substitution, when Yoana Ilieva secured the victory in an extremely tense situation.
Although they lost to the Hungarian team in the quarterfinals with 38:45, the Bulgarian fencers did not give up. In the placement matches, they showed their true potential, achieving convincing victories over the teams of China (45:32) and the USA (45:41).
This ranking is particularly remarkable, considering that before the tournament, the team was 12th in the world rankings. In two days, they managed to win four victories against top 10 teams, demonstrating significant progress and potential for future success.
The final fifth place is the best achievement of a Bulgarian women's sabre team at a World Championship, highlighting the growing competitiveness of Bulgarian fencing on the international stage.