🇮🇹 FAVARETTO FLOURISHES IN ISTANBUL TO LOCK DOWN CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUP TITLES
Updated: Aug 6
ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE — 2 MAY 2026
World number 2 Martina Favaretto (ITA) put the exclamation mark on a landmark campaign, capturing the gold medal at the Istanbul Women’s Foil World Cup. In the fifth and final individual World Cup of the season, the 24-year-old Italian sensation secured back-to-back titles—following her victory in Cairo last month—by edging out her iconic compatriot Arianna Errigo 15–14 in a spectacular, grandstand domestic final.
The triumph marks Favaretto's third individual World Cup victory of the season, adding to her early-season success in Palma. Despite her youth, the victory in TĂĽrkiye elevates her career tally to an incredible eight senior World Cup titles.
Errigo (ITA), the World number 5 and London 2012 Olympic silver medallist, took home the silver medal to append another milestone to her legendary resume. The bronze medals were claimed by France's Pauline Ranvier and tournament revelation Vladislava Peniushkina.
Path to the Podium
Martina Favaretto (World number 2) put on a clinical display of high-speed technical fencing throughout the direct elimination rounds. She comfortably brushed aside early challenges, including a 15–4 dismantling of France's Anita Blaze, before holding off World bronze medallist Anna Cristino 15–10 in the quarter-finals. After easing past Peniushkina 15–4 in the semi-finals, Favaretto showed exceptional composure in the final, clawing back from a late 12–14 deficit against Errigo to wipe away three consecutive match points and seal the title on the sudden-death hit.
Arianna Errigo (World number 5) engineered a magnificent run to secure her 11th career World Cup silver medal, extending her record-breaking lifetime individual World Cup medal tally to 38. Her veteran savvy was on full display in the round of 16 as she systematically out-pointed recent Lima Grand Prix winner Alice Volpi 15–9, before surviving a razor-thin 15–14 quarter-final thriller against rising American star Carolina Stutchbury. Errigo then overwhelmed Ranvier 15–5 in the semi-finals before falling just one hit short in the finale.
Vladislava Peniushkina (World number 111) authored the definitive breakthrough performance of the weekend to lock down a historic maiden senior podium on the regular international circuit. The unseeded neutral athlete put together a relentless giant-killing campaign, highlighted by a commanding 15–5 victory over European bronze medallist Flóra Pásztor (HUN). Peniushkina proved her podium credentials in the round of 16, executing a brilliant tactical strategy to upset Japan's World number 4 and reigning Asian Champion, Ueno Yuka, 13–10 before cruising past Rino Nagase in the quarter-finals.
Pauline Ranvier (World number 9) opened her podium account for the season with an exceptionally sharp drive through the bottom half of the draw. The two-time World silver medallist looked in supreme form during an all-French round of 16 encounter, where she comfortably out-fenced reigning European Champion Éva Lacheray 15–8. Ranvier followed that up by controlling her quarter-final 15–8 against Hungary's Kata Kondricz to guarantee her bronze.
