Point is made
Egypt took an unprecedented three epee fencing medals at a world junior championship. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab watched the feat from the stands
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Ahmed Nabil and Ahmed El-Sagheer in the first-ever all Egyptian final photo: Yosri Aql
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Amid the metallic clanging of swords and the beeps of electronic scoring machines, a chilly Sunday night at the Cairo Indoor Hall Complex produced a surprising Egyptian achievement in fencing: three medals, one of them gold, in the epee event at the World Fencing Cup for under-20.
"The competition was a great achievement for Egypt and proves that fencing is improving," President of the Egyptian Fencing Federation (EFF) Mohamed Abdallah said after the tournament. "We provided the fencers with training camps, good coaches and competition to prove their mettle."
And so they did -- touché. Thirty-seven swordsmen representing the Ukraine, Germany, Venezuela, Tunisia, Portugal, England and Egypt entered the epee. Top seeded Joaquim Videira, ranked No 7 in the world, was upended by Egypt's Ahmed Nabil, No 9, when they met in the semi-final. Nabil won 15-14. The other semi-final was all Egyptian. Two unfancied fencers, Ahmed El-Sagheer from Tanta and Yehia El- Khawanki from Shams, cruised to that spot. They drew 14-14 before El-Sagheer scored the quickest touch (touché de tirage) which took him to the final.
"It's the first final for me in an international event," beamed El-Sagheer whose family, friends and neighbours made the 110km journey from Tanta just to cheer their kin on. "It used to be just Cairo and Alexandria," said Sayed Sami, El-Sagheer's coach in Tanta. "But the fencing base we set up in Tanta will compare favourably with those in Cairo and Alexandria. It's the first international competition we participate in and two fencers from Tanta reached the final eight."
In the final, Nabil 18, beat El-Sagheer 15-14, again via the quickest touch. "Experience beat valour," said Abdel-Moneim El-Husseini, Egypt's famed fencer and secretary-general of the EFF. "Nabil has better tactics and knows how to read the game well. El- Sagheer has guts and style. We'll take care of him."
Counsellor Nabil Abdel-Hamid, Nabil's father, shared his son's nervousness during the game, as well as the pride of victory. With the final touch, he finally exhaled and spoke proudly of his son who began practicing the sport just four years ago. "He picked up a sword and was just hooked. Luckily he got sixth place in the national championship in 2000. So he joined the national team, not as a major fencer but to be given special coaching. His Belarus coach saw a champion in him and gave him special attention. Since then, we've also been hooked. We had no idea what we were in for."
Nabil made headlines when he refused to play an Israeli in the final of the 2002 world youth championship. At the time Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was under siege in his Ramallah compound. "I wanted to beat him [the Israeli] for the sake of the Palestinians but I did not want to acknowledge him or his fans." Last year, Nabil's wish came true; he trounced the Israeli 15-1 in Italy.
Nabil, who is in the top 10 worldwide, plays in almost 15 events a year to gain experience and improve his ranking.
Nabil wished more Egyptian played the game. "Fencing is a great activity for kids," he said. "It can bring out the best and worst in people. All sports do. There is a definite parallel between fencing and chess. It is a sport that rewards intelligence and athleticism.
"Kids who have never done well in any other sport can do well in fencing because of its combination of skills.
"I used to be fat with no gifts, but fencing made me something."
There is time for study and fun in the Nabil household before he flies to Bulgaria for the World Championship for U-20 from 1-14 April. Egypt will also host the 13 March World Team Championship for seniors.
In the foil event that inaugurated last week's championship, Egypt did not meet with the same success. Italian world champion Andrea Baldini snatched the gold medal, beating world No 2 Hinterseer Moritz of Austria 15-11. Third place went to Poles Lukash Mades and Michat Mayewki.
Egypt's best results in the foil were sixth place, won by Tarek Fouad, eighth by Ahmed Rifaat and ninth by Sherif El-Tabei. Thirty-seven fencers came from five countries to compete and collect points that will improve their rankings in time for the preliminaries of the World Cup in April in Bulgaria.
