Estonian women's epee team olympic hopes see setback at world championships

The Estonian women's epee team's hopes of olympic qualification took a blow at this week's FIE Fencing World Championships in Milan, Italy, when the foursome only managed ninth place overall, progressing no further than the round of 16.
The world championships carry double the number of points counting towards next year's Paris Olympic Games than do other events, and so are a significant way-stage towards the team, which features fencers who took Gold at Tokyo in 2021, qualifying.
The foursome of Nelli Differt, Katrina Lehis, Kristina Kuusk and Julia Beljajeva was seeded eleventh for the tournament, and saw off Singapore in round one.
Progressing to the round of 16, Estonia next faced sixth seeders Hong Kong, who remained ahead at all times. In the end, Estonia went down 40:32
The team ultimately placed ninth, thanks to victories over Canada and China, but the result is not sufficient to guarantee passage to the olympics next year. More tournaments are to come between now and then.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte