Estonian fencers Nikolai Novosjolov and Julia Beljajeva won the men's and women's individual epee tournaments at the World Fencing Championships in Budapest on Thursday night.
It was truly an amazing night for Estonia, as Novosjolov, in the men's final, crushed Ruben Limardo Gascon of Venezuela. His win was soon followed by the victory from Beljajeva, a 21-year-old underdog whose results have astounded critics of the sport in the last two days.
In the men's final, the ease of the 15:7 victory came as a surprise for fans, as Gascon was by no means an opponent to be taken lightly, holding a gold medal from the London Olympics. Novosjolov, a 33-year-old Haapsalu native, won the épée event at the 2010 world championships and took silver at the European championships in 2012.
In the women's final, Beljajeva came up on top in a closer match with Russia's Anna Sivkova after defeating Hungarian Emese Szasz in a close semifinal. Beljajeva was part of the Estonian team that won the European Championships in Zagreb in late June.
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