World No. 3 Xu beat Sarra Besbes of Tunisia, ranked just one place below her, 15-13 in a closely fought final. Two Russians, Tatiana Logunova and Tatyana Andryushina, had to settle for sharing the bronze medal position. On the men’s side Grumier swept aside the world No. 2, Enrico Garozzo (ITA), 15-4. The bronze medals went to home fencer Gabor Boczko (HUN) and Youngjun Kweon (KOR).

Seoul (KOR)

Sabre, 25-26 March

Yana Egorian of Russia and Eli Dershwitz of the United States completed Grand Prix wins in Seoul. World No.5 Egorian beat local favorite Seo Jiyeon, ranked 36 in the world, 15-10 in the women’s final of the SK Telecom Grand Prix at the SK Handball Gym, the fencing venue for the 1988 Olympics. Vassiliki Vougiouka of Greece and Russia’s world No. 1, Sofya Velikaya, had to settle for sharing the bronze medal position. The 2015 junior world champion Dershwitz continued to impress by winning the men’s tournament. The 20-year-old beat first-time medalist Mojtaba Abedini (IRI) 15-9 as the bronze medals went to Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA) and Nikolay Kovalev (RUS).

Moscow (RUS)

Sabre, 27-29 May

World No.3 Kim Junghwan of South Korea warmed up for the Rio Olympics in style by winning the Moscow Sabre Fencing Grand Prix, held in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Sports Palace Druzhba near Luzhniki Stadium. Kim, the Asian champion, beat China’s Xu Yingming in convincing fashion, establishing an early lead he never relinquished to win 15-7.