Fencing: Karan Singh upsets World No. 7 at Men's Sabre World Cup

The 24-year-old fencer has been in sensational form securing wins over higher-ranked opponents on a consistent basis.

Karan Singh Gurjar finishes in the 32nd spot among 203 fencers at the Fencing Sabre World Cup held in Padua, Italy. The 24-year-old upset World No. 7 Maximme Pianfetti in the Round of 64 and this is also his first win over a top 10 player. Karan Singh has been in sensational form for the past year and reached a career-high ranking of 61 last month.

Results

Preliminary Tableau

R256 - Bye

R128 - Karan Singh beats Olaf Statsiak (15-7)

R64 - Karan Singh beats Armijo Gabriel (15-4)

Main Tableau

R64 - Karan Singh defeats Maxime Pianfetti (15-12)

R32 - Artyom Sarkissyan beats Karan Singh (13-15)

The Indian fencer performed well in the poules before the commencement of the primary round winning three matches. Karan Singh put up a good fight against WR 35 Artyom Sarkissyan of Kazakstan but lost the battle in the final few minutes. The highest-ranked men’s Indian fencer Indian was trailing (2-6) at the start but made a good comeback to take a two-point lead (10-8). He couldn't hold on to the momentum and lost the match by two points.

2023 Results 

51st - Grand Prix, Tunisia

30th - Sabre World Cup, Warsaw

32nd - Sabre World Cup, Padua

He achieved a career-best ranking of 61 jumping eight spots after finishing 30th at the Warsaw World Cup. With a good finish at Padua, the Indian is expected to get closer to the top 50. Also, he was the lone Indian fencer to take part in the event. Tokyo Olympian Bhavani Devi will be in action on 05 March at the Women’s Sabre World Cup, to be held in Athens, Greece.

Indian male Fencers Ranking (Sabre)

Karan Singh - 61

Gisho Nidhi - 98

Vishal Thapar - 150  

Abhay Shinde - 162