The Greek women of dueling sword stood out in the world premiere

The curtain has opened on the men’s/women’s world championships in Milan, Italy, and the first to enter the fray to qualify for the main draw of 64 were the men’s epee and women’s epee fencers.

Greece participated with four people in each of the two categories, but those who stood out with the results they achieved were the three dueling sword athletes who reached one victory away from the main table and were ranked among the best 100 in the world.

In the qualifying round of the dueling sword, Andriana Theodoropoulou (AO Ariston Paanias) made an excellent appearance with 5 wins and 1 loss, she passed with a very good position in the knockouts and missed the direct qualification to the main board by just two strokes. She was followed by Nefeli Rodopoulou (AOFIPS Irida) with 4/2 and Nicole Chatzisarantou (AO Ariston Paanias) with 2/3 wins/losses. Fani Varveri (AO Theseas Heraklion) was unable to score a second victory in six pool and with 1/4 was out of the continuation. In the round of 128, Theodoropoulou went through without a match, Rodopoulou defeated the Portuguese Maria Alvim 13-12 and Hatzisarandou defeated the Kazakh Vladislava Andreyeva 15-12. In the battle of the board of 64 which gave the qualification for the main board of 64 on Tuesday, July 25, the three Greek women unfortunately could not come out victorious. Theodoropoulou was defeated 15-14 by the Lithuanian Vikte Azukaite, Rodopoulou by 13-6 by the Venezuelan Lizy Asis and Hadzisarandou by 15-7 by the Romanian Bianca Benea. Here is the final ranking of the Greek women:

66th – Andriana Theodoropoulou

74th – Nefeli Rodopoulou

89th – Nicole Hatzisarantou

150th – Fani Varveri

Results

On the first day of the championship, all four Greek fencers of the men’s epee took their place on the slopes of Milan. Dimitris Kafataridis (AO Ariston Paanias) and Panagiotis Kontoideis (AEK) managed to pass the pool stage with 2/3 and 2/4 wins/losses respectively. The one win in six matches scored by Vassilis Predaris and Yiannis Priftis (AO Ariston Paanias) was not enough to give them the ticket for the knockouts. In the 128 board that followed, Kafataridis was defeated 15-8 by Ukrainian Oleksii Stachenko and Kontoidis was defeated 15-13 by Evan Jean Amb Giraud from Niger. Here is the final ranking of the Greeks:

118th – Dimitris Kafataridis

121st – Panagiotis Kontoideis

141st – Vasilis Predaris

142nd – Giannis Priftis

Results

STATEMENTS

Since the great women’s dueling epee team of 2004, Greek fencing has seen three Greek women simultaneously claim their qualification to a main world championship table. The trio of Niki Sidiropoulou, Dimitra Maganoudaki and Ioanna Christou had won the 8th place in the dueling sword team at the 2004 Olympic Games. However, the participation of all three in the same world championship had taken place twice, in 2003 and 2007. In Havana, Cuba in 2003 they had won the 87th, 51st, and 27th place respectively, while in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2007 they had won the 51st, 31st and 43rd place respectively.

Fifteen years have passed since the last time three Greek women were ranked among the first 100 best athletes in the world, but in Milan in 2023 the trio of Theodoropoulou (AO Ariston Paiana), Rodopoulou (AOFIPS Irida) and Hatzisarantou (AO Ariston Paiana) succeeded again. In fact, two out of three gymnasts have not yet turned 20, which shows that there is hope and perspective in women’s dueling swords in Greece. They may not have been able to make the breakthrough to enter the main board, but their performances are considered very positive for the future of the weapon. Here are the athletes’ statements about this important success:

Andriana Theodoropoulou – 66th place

coach: Giorgos Passas

“Today’s result was the result of hard work and perseverance. My first distinction in the women’s next round was a huge success and I’m very proud of my performance. Unfortunately, I did not qualify for the main board of the best 64 in the world by just one shot. The experiences I gained make me more determined and work harder for the next matches.”

Nefeli Rodopoulou – 74th place

coach: Dimitra Zachou

“Today’s competitions were an unprecedented experience for me, since it was my first participation abroad in the women’s category in such a large and highly rated event among the top athletes from all over the world. The day started off great from the morning, in the first round I had found my rhythm, I was playing nicely and focused and everything went as we wanted with my coach, Dimitra Zachou. Then I won a very difficult knockout and got one step ahead of the main board of 64. The game that disqualified me was quite difficult against an experienced opponent, but the truth is that I did not play as I would have liked, I could have played better and the score was closer until the end. The impressions I have from this race and the experience I had are only positive, they showed me that I can cope at this level and give me great motivation to continue working hard and training and step by step to pursue my goals. It was the last race of the year, a full and very difficult year that finally ended in a very beautiful way and with absolute success, as I managed to win for the second consecutive year the Panhellenic championships in the women’s category and in the youth category, three cups of Greece in both categories and medals in all the other domestic competitions. Now rest, and from September in my now new category, women’s, we continue even stronger.”

Nicole Hadjisarantou – 89th place

coach: Giorgos Passas

“The world championship ended for me with bittersweet feelings. I’m happy because I found myself a game before the main table of 64 but I didn’t manage to surpass my opponent’s experience. Today was full of strong matches and every race brings me closer to my goal, which I will fight hard for until I achieve it.”

CONTINUITY IN THE WORLD

The baton will be taken by two gymnasts and one athlete who will start on Sunday 23/7 their attempt at the top date of the year. The reason for Katerina Kontochristopoulou and Stavrina Garifallou in the exercise sword and Konstantinos Karabasis in the dueling sword. Here is the program and the entries of the second day:

July 23 | 10:00 – 18:00

Qualifying Round – Men’s Dueling Sword

(Karabasi)

Qualifying Round – Women’s Epee

(Kontochristopoulou, Garifallou)