Chinese women's epee team grabs bronze at World Championships

Players of China take a selfie during the awarding ceremony of the women's group epee match at the Fencing World Championships in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, July 25, 2018. Team China got the bronze medal. [Photo: Xinhua/Li Bo]

As the world No.1, the Chinese women's epee team won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Wednesday. 

In the quarterfinal, the team ousted Germany 45-36, but lost 21-25 to South Korea in the semifinal. In the bronze-medal game against Russia, the Chinese fencers sealed a 45-42 victory.

"Fencers from South Korea have experienced three Olympics, yet I am the only one in the Chinese team who has taken part in an Olympics, so there is a gap between the two teams," Chinese epee fencer Sun Yiwen told Xinhua after the game.

"But we are trying to carve out a way to prove ourselves. After the defeat, we summed up our problems and pulled together. The bronze medal means more than a ranking to us," Sun added.

Speaking of the upcoming Asian Games, the coach of the Chinese epee team said the defeat is a reminder for them; they don't want to lose to South Korea again in the Asian Games.

The Chinese men's epee team was in good form, they beat Uzbekistan and Ukraine 44-43 and 45-36 respectively, advancing to the top eight.

The Chinese women's foil team was defeated by Japan in the round of 16 and failed to make it to the last eight.

The United States claimed the women's team epee gold and South Korea won the men's sabre title. 

The finals of the men's team epee and women's foil will begin on Thursday when the women's team sabre and men's foil top eight will also be decided. 

The championships run until July 27 at the Wuxi New Sports Center Gymnasium. Fencers from 109 countries and regions will vie for 12 titles in foil, epee and sabre. 

In total, China has sent 27 athletes to compete in the women's and men's individual and team events.