Ruslan Kurbanov, one of the leaders of Kazakhstan's men's epee fencing team, commented on his individual performance at the World Championships, where he lost to a Japanese fencer by a single touch. He praised the high level of Japanese epeeists—three of whom reached the top eight—and shared his plans for the team competition, according to infohub.kz.
“Of course, it's frustrating to lose on the decisive touch. Our bouts with Japanese athletes have once again shown how strong their team is and that we need to find new keys to competing against them. At this World Championships, three Japanese fencers made it to the top eight. I lost to a Japanese representative by just one touch, and Kirill Prokhodov also lost to a Japanese fencer,” Kurbanov said.
“We know each other well; this year we held three joint training camps with the Japanese team. Such work bears fruit—sometimes we win, sometimes they come out on top. That's sports. When two high-level athletes meet, it's rare for anyone to achieve a clear advantage; often the outcome is decided by one or two touches,” he added.
“Now we are switching all our attention to the team competition. Tomorrow is a recovery day, after which we will have a full training session with sparring. Then the draw will take place, and we will find out our opponents,” the fencer noted.
On July 29, the men's epee team from Kazakhstan will compete for medals in the team event. At the previous World Championships, Kazakh epeeists won bronze medals.