🇮🇹 ITALY EDGES HONG KONG IN THRILLING CAIRO FINALE TO TAKE GOLD
Updated: Aug 5
CAIRO, EGYPT — 19 APRIL 2026
World number 1 Italy asserted their global dominance at the Cairo Men’s Team Foil World Cup, fighting through a spectacular, high-stakes final to secure their second team title of the 2025–26 season. The top-seeded Italian quartet—Guillaume Bianchi, Giulio Lombardi, Filippo Macchi and Tommaso Marini—held off a ferocious late-match surge from Hong Kong, China to edge a 45–43 classic.
The gold medal marks another trophy for the stellar Italian campaign, while Hong Kong backed up their recent gold in Paris with a clinical silver medal performance. The USA took home the bronze medal and an inspired Spain squad logged their best finish of the year in fourth.
Path to the Podium
Italy (World number 1) put on an absolute clinical display in the early direct elimination rounds, dispatching Chinese Taipei and China with ease. In the semi-finals, they dictated the tempo against Spain to establish a comfortable 15–8 advantage after three legs, expanding it to 30–24 after six bouts before wrapping up a 45–31 victory.
The gold medal final against Hong Kong was a tactical masterpiece that kept the Cairo crowd on the edge of their seats. Italy won a pair of tight 5–4 opening bouts to lead 15–13 after three legs. However, the momentum violently shifted when Hong Kong's Choi Chun Yin Ryan launched a blistering 10–5 run against Macchi. Italy dug deep to cling to a 30–24 advantage after six bouts, only for Hong Kong’s Lam Ho Long to temporarily upend the match, outscoring Macchi 7–3 to put Hong Kong ahead 35–33. With everything on the line, Marini and Bianchi executed flawlessly in the final fights, logging consecutive 6–5 victories against Cheung Ka Long and Choi to snatch the gold.
Hong Kong (World number 5) reached the final by winning an absolute blockbuster 45–43 semi-final over the USA. Hong Kong initially held a slender 15–13 lead after three fights, despite Nick Itkin single-handedly keeping the Americans alive by outscoring his teammates' combined touch totals against Lam. The Americans temporarily seized a 35–33 lead in the seventh leg after exploiting Lam’s movement, but Hong Kong’s superstar duo of Cheung and Choi took over in the final two bouts, doing the heavy tactical lifting to guide their squad to victory.
The USA (World number 2) earned back-to-back podium finishes—following their silver in Paris—by capturing the bronze medal. The team of James Bourtis, Nick Itkin, Bryce Louie and Alexander Massialas made it clear they had no intention of leaving Egypt empty-handed. They blistered Spain out of the gate, constructing massive 15–7 and 30–15 cushions heading into the final third of the play-off. Despite a spirited late-match push from the Spanish side, the Americans comfortably closed out a 45–34 victory.
Spain (World number 15) provided the definitive feel-good story of the weekend, crashing their way into their first semi-final of the season. The lineup of Mario DĂaz Escalona, Carlos Llavador, Ignacio Breteau and Juan Zabala engineered the shock of the morning by knocking out world number 4 and two-time bronze medallists Japan 45–41 in the round of 16, before rolling past Belgium 45–30 in the quarter-finals.
