The last time the women's épée team reached the World Championship final was nearly a decade ago, in 2017. That time, the team defeated China to take gold.

After a disappointing run in the individual women's épée event late last week and over the weekend, the seventh-seeded women's épée foursome, consisting of Veronika Zuikova, reigning European champion Katrina Lehis, and two veterans from the 2017 final, Julia Beljajeva and Irina Embrich, went all the way to the final to narrowly lose 31–30 to the Italians.

Lehis was crowned European champion last month. Three of the four (Lehis, Beljajeva, and Embrich) were part of the team which took gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), while Beljajeva and Embrich were in the 2017 final, which Estonia won. Lehis also took bronze at the individual event in Tokyo.

Progress to the final

The team first faced Romania in the round of 32. They claimed a 36–25 victory in that match.

Next up came Canada, which Estonia cruised past with a 45–25 victory; Estonia lost just one of the nine individual bouts in that round.

In the quarterfinals, Estonia took on reigning world champions and Paris Olympic silver medalists France, who had defeated Chinese Taipei 45–18 and Israel 45–39.

Estonia made a superb start as Beljajeva blanked Alexandra Louis Marie von Kerssenbrock 5–0, Embrich scored the first two touches of her bout to give Estonia a 9–2 lead, and Lehis then defeated Marie-Florence Candassamy 4–2. After Beljajeva's touch in the fifth bout, the Estonians had stretched their lead to 19–7, and their advantage remained at at least 10 touches throughout. Embrich's victory over Candassamy extended Estonia's lead to 30–17.

The French attacked aggressively in the final two bouts. Von Kerssenbrock edged Lehis 9–8, and France's fourth team member, Auriane Mallo-Breton, beat Beljajeva 8–7, but Estonia's lead held up and the team advanced to the semifinals with a 45–34 win.

In the semifinals, the Estonian women faced Hungary, European Championship silver medalists three times over the past four years. Hungary had beaten the U.S. 43–38 in their quarterfinal.

Lehis beat top fencer Blanka Nagy 7–4 in the second bout, while Beljajeva again excelled, defeating the youngest member of the Hungarian team 4–1 to give Estonia a 14–9 overall lead after the fourth bout.

Embrich briefly found herself in trouble against Nagy, 27 years her junior, but then scored three consecutive touches. After Beljajeva's 3–2 victory over Lili Buki, Lehis entered the final bout holding a three-touch lead against Hungary's top fencer, Eszter Muhari. Lehis withstood the attacks of the Paris Olympic bronze medalist, won the bout 15–12, and sent Estonia into the final with a 42–34 overall victory.

Italy, who took olympic gold in Paris two years ago, edged South Korea 45–44 in a thrilling semifinal to set up the showdown with Estonia.

The final

The final in Hong Kong started at 3 p.m. Estonian time Tuesday.

Alberta Santuccio defeated Beljajeva 2–0 in the opening bout, and Estonia spent the rest of the final chasing the deficit, which got as narrow as one point early on in the tournament as Beljajeva's victory in her second bout, when things were 11–10 in the Italians' favor. Lehis however then lost 4–0 down to Giulia Rizzi in the sixth bout, allowing the olympic champions to extend their lead to six touches. Embrich and Beljajeva together managed to pull Estonia one touch closer, leaving Lehis to begin the final bout trailing 24–19.

While Lehis expertly put her Italian opponent under pressure and gradually reduced Estonia's deficit – With 40 seconds remaining, Lehis closed to within a single touch, but there was simply too little time left. The final seconds featured five consecutive double touches, leaving Italy to claim a narrow 31–30 victory.

Editor's note: This piece was updated to include the final result.

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