Canadian fencer Arfa stopped in quarterfinal after upset win over defending champ

PARIS — Canadian fencer Fares Arfa was narrowly defeated in the men's individual sabre quarterfinal on Saturday, hours after beating the three-time defending Olympic champion.

Arfa, making his Olympic debut, was defeated 15-13 by eventual gold medallist Oh Sang-uk of South Korea.

Sang-uk is ranked fourth in the world, while Arfa ranks No. 35.

Earlier on Saturday, Arfa posted a stunning 15-8 upset over Aron Szilagyi, the three-time gold medallist from Hungary.

"I stayed in place, observed him, and waited to see what he was going to do," Arfa said. "I told myself: 'Do your thing, I'll do mine.' It becomes a mental game like that.

"This is the most important victory of my career. Against the three-time reigning champion, at the Olympics, 100 per cent it is."

Meanwhile, Szilagyi said he was "in a bit of shock."

“I’m not even disappointed or angry at myself yet," he said after the loss. "It happened so fast, and I’ve never thought that my individual competition here in Paris would be so short.

"It’s really a shock. It’s like my opponent read me. I was an open book to him. In every touch, what he wanted, it happened. All his parries worked, all his attacks landed."

"It was as if he’d been the three-time Olympic champion, and I was some kind of first-time Olympian," he added.

The win over Szilagyi sent Arfa to the round of 16, where he defeated France’s Bolade Apithy, also 15-8.

His eighth-place showing was the best-ever finish by a Canadian in a men's individual fencing event. The previous best was a 10th-place finish by Michel Dessureault in men’s épée at Los Angeles 1984.

The 29-year-old Arfa, who was born in Algeria, hails from Laval, Que.

He has competed at the last two Pan American Games and was part of Canada's championship men's sabre team at the 2023 Santiago Games.

"I went one match, one touch at a time. Maybe some were surprised, after all, I wasn't the favourite," he said. "But I never started a duel thinking I was going to lose."

Arfa will take part in the team competition in Paris on Wednesday when Canada takes on South Korea.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.