Foil, Team, Men

The bracket featured nine teams, the top eight of the world plus Britain, ranked 11th. Two nations were named for the Olympic gold: Italy and China. Italy had won the two most recent World Cups, and had claimed the 2012 European title in Legnano. They had also won the World Championships in 2008 and 2009. They were succeeded by the Chinese, who claimed back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, and their squad featured individual champion Lei Sheng. Based on results earlier in the season, France and Germany could also be expected to do well.

After surviving a close encounter with the host nation, the Italians proceeded to the final by easily overcoming the United States, 45-39. The Chinese, however, didn’t make it past their first match. They were upset by the Japanese (seeded 7th), with Kenta Chida deciding the match with his 10-3 win over Ma Jianfei. The Japanese then encountered the Germans in the semi-finals, which turned out to be a thriller. The Asians had a 3 point lead going into the last bout, which saw 2008 silver medallist Yuki Ota pitted against 4-time World Champion Peter Joppich of Germany. Joppich closed the gap to 40-40, forcing overtime, and twice seemed to have scored the winning touch. Video replay decided otherwise, however, and Ota eventually scored the winning touch. The final began well for Japan, but individual world champion Andrea Cassarà reversed this in his bout against Chida. Although Japan never lost touch, Italy remained in control, with Andrea Baldini deciding the match in their favor and defending their 2004 title, as the event wasn’t held in Beijing. For Japan, it was their second-ever Olympic fencing medal, the first one won by Ota in 2008.