Oh Sang-uk (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), the leader of Korean fencing, once again proved his world-class ability by claiming a gold medal in the individual event at a World Cup competition.
Oh won the men's sabre individual event at the International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup held in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday (local time).
The victory marked Oh's second title of the season. He also captured gold at the Salt Lake City competition in the United States in January. Including a bronze medal at the Algiers, Algeria event last November, the Cairo win was his third individual podium finish at a World Cup this season.
A two-time gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Oh briefly stepped away from the national team for the 2024-2025 season before returning this season. Although he stumbled in the middle of the season due to a back injury, he reclaimed the world No. 1 title at the season's final World Cup.
In his opening match in the round of 64, Oh defeated Kamil Ibragimov (Individual Neutral Athlete) 15-13, advancing smoothly into medal contention. In the semifinals, he faced current world No. 2 Sandro Bazadze of Georgia but cruised to a 15-8 victory. In the final, he overpowered Colin Heathcock of the United States 15-8 to stand atop the podium.
Meanwhile, at the women's sabre World Cup held in Lima, Peru, Choi Se-bin (Daejeon Metropolitan City) narrowly lost to Sara Noutcha of France, finishing as runner-up. Choi earned her first international medal in two years, following a bronze at the international Grand Prix held in Tunis, Tunisia in January 2024.
