Bulgarian fencers Todor Stoichev and Emma Neykova secured gold medals at the European Cup for sabre, which took place in Sofia. The competition featured young sabre and foil fencers from ten countries. In the men's sabre event, Stoichev emerged victorious in a tournament that saw 24 fencers from four nations compete. Stoichev advanced through the group stage with four wins and one loss. In the elimination rounds, he defeated Francesco Carnavale from Italy with a score of 15:11, Stanimir Pelov with 15:9, and Nikola Meicov with 15:14 in the semifinals. Stoichev secured his gold medal with a 15:6 victory over Nikola Ragi from Italy in the final.
In the women's sabre event, Emma Neykova claimed the gold medal after winning all six of her group stage matches. She then eliminated Aya Aroyo with 15:5, Ralitsa Gadjeva with 15:10, and Viktoriya Vitliemova with 15:13 in the elimination rounds to reach the final. Neykova defeated Beloslava Ivanova in the final with a score of 15:11. Ivanova took the silver medal, while Vasilena Krasteva and Viktoriya Vitliemova shared the bronze.
In the foil events, the competition saw 47 male and 29 female fencers from ten countries. The men's foil champion was Marco Ferraris from Italy, while Bulgaria's Mihail Mihaylov took seventh place. Mihaylov progressed through the group stage with four wins and two losses. In the elimination rounds, he defeated Boris Konov with 15:7 and Marten Rushev with 15:14, but lost to Juan Garcia Ferus from Spain in the semifinals with 10:15. In the women's foil event, Bulgaria's Mihayela Stefanova and Aleksandra Suchkova each won bronze medals.
I've been waiting for a big win from Todor Stoichev and Emma Neykova, and this is huge! But let's not forget, the real test comes at the World Championships. Can they keep it up on the biggest stage? Let's see them bring home the gold again!