Estonia's Nelli Differt reached the quarter-finals of the women's individual épée at the World Fencing Championships in Cairo, where she was beaten by Italy's Rossella Fiamingo. Fellow Estonian Erika Kirpu was eliminated in the last sixteen, while Irina Embrich went out in the second round.

Differt started the tournament with a narrow 15-14 first round victory over Singapore's Kiria Abdul Rahman. After a 15-9 win against Ukrainian Yana Shemyakina in round 2, Differt swept past her round of 16 opponent Marie-Florence Candassamy of France 15-10.

However, the Estonian came unstuck in the quarter-finals, where she went down 15-11 to Italy's Rosella Fiamingo, finishing in fifth place overall in the competition.

"Of course, I would have loved to have won a medal, but all in all, I am still satisfied," Differt told ERR. "From the first match in the round of 64, it was already very difficult. It was more about getting myself up and running with the pressure at its highest. After that, the pressure eased off and I was able to show some really, really nice fencing."

"She has her own rhythm and tempo," Differt said about her opponent Fiamingo. "I couldn't handle it as well as I should have. She was better today. I hope I can beat her in the next match."

In the opening round, Erika Kirpu won 15-10 against Alexandra Ehler of Germany, before defeating Hong Kong's Wai Ling Chan 15-8 in round 2. However, Kirpu's tournament ended with an 11-15 defeat against two-time Asian Champion Vivian Kong in the round of 16, leaving the Estonian in 13th place overall.

Irina Embrich also got off to a good start, defeating Israel's Adele Bogdanov 15-7 in their opening round match. However, Embrich finished 20th in the tournament after conceding at 12-13 to Hungarian Eszter Muhar during overtime of their second round contest.

South Korea's Song Se-ra was crowned world champion after beating Alexandra Ndolo of Germany 11-10 in the final.

Differt is now looking ahead to the women's team épée competition, which starts on Wednesday, with Katrina Lehis missing from the Estonian squad due to injury. "We'll go out again with a new line-up, as has become the norm this season. In every competition there's a different line-up," said Differt. "We're going to do our best. The other teams are also very consistent and strong. Nobody can be underestimated. You have to give your best."

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