No fewer than four Estonian fencers reached the top 32 in the women's individual tournament, though only Lehis advanced to the next stage and beyond.

She earned a solid 15:5 win over Japan's Ruka Narita in the main draw's opening round, then faced her compatriot and 10th seed Irina Embrich in the round of 32. Embrich had narrowly defeated Switzerland's Valentina Bosi 10:9.

Lehis was trailing 14:11 with just 10 seconds left in their bout, yet she managed to equalize by the end of regular time, going on to win 15:14 with a decisive touch.

Lehis then faced China's Sihan Yu, who had earlier eliminated another Estonian competitor, Julia Beljajeva. Lehis beat Yu 15:10 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she beat Olympic team medal-winner Giulia Rizzi (Italy) to make the semis.

Lehis next faced Aizana Murtazaeva (Russia), whom Lehis had defeated back in 2021 to take the individual bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. However, this time Murtazaeva got her revenge, defeating Lehis 15:11.

A fourth Estonian, Nelli Differt, who came agonizingly close to being in the medals at the Paris Olympics last summer, also made it to the round of 32, only to go down 15:11 against Poland's Barbara Brych.

Finally, 16-year-old Julia Trynova had to accept a loss in the opening round of the main tournament, falling 13:10 against Alexandra Ndolo (Kenya), World Championship silver medalist from three years ago.

The team tournament in Marrakesh follows on Sunday.

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