Emma Neikova won the saber gold medal at the European Youth and Girls Fencing Championships in Naples. 70 female saber fencers from 21 countries participated in the competition, among them the future stars of this sport. With her title, Neikova, led by national coach Ivaylo Vodenov, repeated the success of Ioana Ilieva in 2020, when she became the European champion for girls under 20 in Croatia.
Emma Nejkova began her gold medal journey with four wins and two losses in the groups, entering the second phase of the N24 competition. In the first round of the direct eliminations, our saber player prevailed over Bethany Brierley from Great Britain with 15:7. In the next match, valid for a place among the best 16, Neikova defeated Evelina Popova, playing under a neutral flag, with 15:13. In the match for a place in the top 8, the Bulgarian eliminated Victoria Korochenko from Ukraine with 15:11. This was followed by a 15:10 victory over Alexandra Mihailova, playing under a neutral flag. In the semi-final, Neikova eliminated Amalia Kovaliu from Romania with 15:14 after an extremely contested match. In the European Championship title match, Emma Nejkova faced Hungary's Anna Spiecs, played with confidence, and drive, and unleashed her huge potential. After trailing 3:8, the graduate of the Svechnikov fencing club not only caught up but also took the lead 10:8. Until the end of the meeting, Neikova did not lose her lead, closed the meeting with 15:12 and deservedly won the gold medal.
The other Bulgarian women in the saber competition also performed at a level. Kalina Atanasova ranked 5th after exiting the groups with 6 wins from 6 matches. In the heats, she defeated Zuzana Porada of Poland 15:10, then eliminated Lexi Craze of Great Britain 15:11, and in the semi-final match, she fell to Felice Herbon of Germany 8:15.
Mariela Georgieva and Kristina Milanova entered the top 64, sharing 52-53 place.
In the youth epee tournament, which was also held today, four Bulgarians took part - Rahim Rashaida, Vasil Ivakimov, Alexander Kostadinov, and Samuel Petkanchin. The best performer was Rahim Rashaida, who ranked 23rd out of 107 participants. In the groups, he recorded four wins from five matches. In the direct eliminations, our fencer entered under N20, and in the second round he prevailed over Daniel Ondo from Slovakia by 15:10. In the fight for a place among the top 16, Rashaida lost to Dmytro Plaskin of Ukraine after a contested game and 14:13 in favor of the Ukrainian.
Vasil Ivakimov entered the top 64, finishing the race in 49th place. Samuel Petkancin shared a 99-100 spot with Belgium's Nicolas Van Coppenole. /BGNES
