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Krzysztof Kaczkowski astounded viewers at the Warsaw Men’s Sabre World Cup by taking home the title. In the 66th edition of the oldest tournament on the World Cup calendar, he bested the reigning number one and European champion, Georgian Sandro Bazadze.
This is the fifth time since 1955 that a Polish fencer has won a tournament. Previous winners were Jerzy Pawlowski, Emil Ochyra, Tadeusz Pigula, and Norbert Jaskot. It has been 26 years since the last time a Pole was victorious.
The 25-year-old Kaczkowski, an athlete of Zagłębie KS from Sosnowiec, last year’s Polish champion, was 74th in the world ranking before this tournament.
The Pole battled with assurance, and proficiency, and was very focused, yet simultaneously did not experience the strain. In the quarterfinals, he vanquished Iranian Farzad Baher Arasbaran 15:12, and in the semis, Michele Gallo by one stroke – 15:14.
In the final, Pole faced Bazadze. The 29-year-old Georgian became the champion of the Old Continent last year in Antalya, was third in the Global Championships and became the leader of the world ranking.
The beginning belonged to the Georgian, but later the consistently fighting Kaczkowski took the lead. The Georgian led to a 13:13 tie, and then 14:14, but the decisive action belonged to the Pole.