WUHAN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Timur Safin found his confidence and form back to win men's foil at the Military World Games here after the Russian has experienced plenty of ups and downs since winning a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
On Saturday he was cruising on a new wave of confidence after winning four tough bouts on his way to the gold medal.
The result was just the boost he needed two weeks before the start of a challenging season where qualification to his second Olympic Games is on the line.
"It's a good start," Safin said. "Each competition gives you more confidence in your strength and the tactics that you use. It's a good tournament to develop my fencing for the future."
Safin overcame world champion Enzo Lefort of France in the quarterfinals by the slimmest of margins. He also had close bouts against teammate Aleksei Cheremisinov and Italy's Valerio Aspromonte, and wrapped up his campaign with a solid 15-9 victory against another French fencer Maxime Pavty.
"All the guys were very strong. They are from the A teams. But probably the most difficult battle was the battle to advance into the top four, against the Frenchman Lefort," Safin said.
"He is the reigning world champion, so we had a difficult battle and it finished with a difference of just one touch. I beat him 15-14. This fight was the most intense and difficult, and that was the force that pushed me toward my next victories."
Safin's gold combined with Cheremisinov's bronze in the men's foil and Tatiana Andrivshina's bronze in the women's epee made Russia the only team with multiple medals on the first day of fencing competition at the Games.
Andrivshina's journey to bronze included facing China's Sun Yiwen and the roar of the crowds, which included several rows of Sun's supporters from the military in the semifinal.
Sun won two bouts with a one-point margin against Romanian fencers, Predescu Alexandra in the Table of 16 and Popescu Ana in the final, to earn the gold medal.
The fencing competition continues on Sunday at the Wuhan Polytechnic Gymnasium with the women's sabre and the men's epee.
