Italy’s Ionela Andreea Mogos won her second consecutive women’s sabre category B gold medal of 2026 early Friday afternoon.

Competing against Ukraine’s Nadia Doloh in the final, Mogos had dispatched Georgia’s multiple World Cup and World Championships medallist Irma Khetsuriani in the semi-final.

Her last clash against Doloh proved to be a relatively straightforward affair, with the Italian registering a 15-8 win. It follows on from her first win of the new season a few weeks ago in Pisa.

“I am very happy, because when you win you are happy because you did the action that you wanted,” Mogos said. “Sincerely I had a little bit of fear because when you win maybe you have the pressure [to win again].”

But Doloh will no doubt be pleased with her silver which equalled her previous best performance in the sabre from 2024.

Khetsuriani can also be happy with her latest World Cup podium finish of bronze. Mogos’s teammate Julia Anna Markowska was the other bronze medallist, adding to her gold from the epee from Thursday (19 March).

Poland’s Kinga Drozdz was the second fencer to double-up on their medal haul from the year so far, in the women’s sabre category A. Drozdz also reached the top in Pisa and on Friday faced Georgia’s Nina Tibilashvili in the final.

It was a close affair between the pairing, showing the best of women’s sabre fencing anywhere in the world right now. Drozdz had carved a commanding lead but Tibilashvili put the pressure on, landing several hits in quick succession to keep herself in contention.

But Drozdz was on the march, refocused her efforts and streaked to a 15-10 final score.

The win for the Pole became even more impressive when she revealed she did have the best start to the day.

“It feels amazing because this morning I didn’t’ feel very so I wasn’t sure it would be a good day for me. But yeah, I did it again but yeah it went very well for me.

“I’m training very hard. But most important for me is the European Championships [in Cardiff, Great Britain, in October] when qualification for LA [2028] starts but I am trying my best and we will see.”

Hungary celebrated their second bronze courtesy of up-and-coming star Anna Nadasdy whose family joined the party on Friday. Ukraine’s Natalia Morkvych also secured herself a bronze.

Great Britain’s Paralympic champion Dimitri Coutya stunned France’s Yohan Peter to take his second gold in 24 hours in the men’s epee category B.

Brazil’s Jovane Guissone also continued his great results from the first part of the season, claiming bronze to add from his third-place finish in Thursday’s foil. Latvia’s Oleg Garkuls-Gurlevics also grabbed himself a bronze, his first of 2026 on his season debut.

Great Britain’s Paris 2024 silver medallist and Tokyo 2020 champion, Piers Gilliver, was golden once more in the men’s epee category A.

His final against China’s Liqiang Chen drew a lot of attention at the BOK Arena purely for its potential quality. Gilliver was able to show his superior form to emerge on top with a 15-9 scoreline.

“Every time it gets tougher and tougher and it never gets old coming away with the result you wanted,” Gilliver said.

Another Chinese fencer, Li Hao, grabbed one of the bronzes alongside neutral Para athlete Artur Yusopov.

The Budapest 2026 Para Fencing World Cup continues on Saturday with the men’s sabre and women’s foil category A and B. These four medal events will be the last individual competitions ahead of Sunday’s team events.