🇨🇠MALCOTTI MAKES HISTORY AS SWITZERLAND'S FIRST MEN'S EPEE WORLD CHAMPION
HONG KONG — 26 JULY 2026
Switzerland’s World number 57 Lucas Malcotti authored an extraordinary chapter in international fencing on the fifth day of the 2026 World Championships, capturing the men’s individual epee title. Competing at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong, the 2018 team World Champion executed a brilliant late-bout comeback against Italy's Davide Di Veroli, securing a dramatic 12–11 victory.
The historic victory makes Malcotti Switzerland's first ever World Champion in men's epee fencing.
While Di Veroli claimed the silver medal, Saudi Arabia's Khalifah Alomairi and Japan's Yamada Masaru earned the individual bronze medals.
Path to the Podium
Lucas Malcotti (World number 57) navigated a grueling direct elimination bracket to capture his historic gold medal. After opening with a 15–11 win over Estonia's World number 78 Sten Priinits, he dismantled Hong Kong's World number 131 Ng Ho Tin 15–4 in the last 32. Malcotti then pulled off a series of high-profile victories, defeating Hungary's World number five Gergely Siklosi 15–11 and edging Russia's Dmitrii Shvelidze 12–11 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, he outlasted Saudi Arabia's Alomairi 13–12 in a nerve-shredding priority minute to book his place in the final.
The gold medal bout against Di Veroli opened cautiously, with two calls for non-combativity in the first period as Di Veroli built a 3–1 lead. Malcotti worked relentlessly over the next two periods to chip away at the deficit, stealing a decisive two-point lead with less than 25 seconds left on the clock and holding on to take the crown 12–11.
Davide Di Veroli (World number 14) put together an exceptional day of fencing to secure a World silver medal to add to his Heidenheim World Cup silver. The Italian star opened with a 15–12 win over Morocco's World number 30 Houssam Elkord before turning aside the Virgin Islands' Kruz Schembri 15–13. Di Veroli continued his run by defeating France's World number 28 Alexandre Bardenet 14–12 and edging Japan's World number 45 Matsumoto Ryu 14–13 in the quarter-finals. He guaranteed his spot in the final by overcoming Japan's Yamada Masaru 15–13 in the semi-finals before falling just short against Malcotti.
Khalifah Alomairi (World number 160) provided the fairytale story of the Championships, making history by earning his first ever senior international podium and securing Saudi Arabia's first ever World Championship medal in fencing. The underdog opened with a tense 15–14 win over Luxembourg's Flavio Giannotte before out-pointing Israel's World number 35 Dov Ber Vilensky 15–10. Alomairi then launched a monumental giant-killing spree, defeating Italy's 2026 European Champion Simone Mencarelli 15–10 and stunning World number one, reigning Olympic and World Champion Kano Koki of Japan 15–12 in the quarter-finals. His historic run finally came to an end in a heart-stopping 13–12 priority minute defeat to Malcotti in the semi-finals.
Yamada Masaru (World number seven) demonstrated supreme consistency on the global stage, securing the individual World bronze medal for the second year in a row. The Paris 2024 Olympic team silver medallist opened his day by defeating Canada's David Gornovsky 15–8 and turning aside Switzerland's Sven Vineis 15–11. Yamada defeated Kazakhstan's World number 26 Kirill Prokhodov 15–11 in the last 16 before earning a hard-fought 11–10 quarter-final victory over Egypt's World number two and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Mohamed Elsayed to lock down his podium spot.
Full results are here.
