Olympics: Fischer narrowly misses fencing bronze

Fischer (left) stares at the ground as Lee Sang-Ki celebrates his bronze medal win Keystone

Switzerland's only Olympic entrant in the men's épée fencing competition has missed out on the bronze medal by a single point. Marcel Fischer was beaten 16-15 in the third-place play-off by the South Korean fencer Lee Sang-Ki.

Fischer had arguably the hardest route to the semi-finals, but he fought his way through in convincing style. After defeating South Korea’s Roy-Sung Yang 13-12 in the first round, the fencer from canton Berne recorded an impressive 15-10 win over the world number one, Germany’s Arnd Schmitt.

Having made it into the last four, Fischer took on France’s Hugues Obry for a place in the final. The Frenchman took an early two point lead, which he held onto well into the third segment of the bout.

But with less than two minutes of the contest remaining, Fischer pulled level at 12-12. Obry kept a clear head, however, and was able to secure a narrow 15-13 victory.

Fischer now had to concentrate on the bronze medal and appeared to have a good chance as he moved into a 6-3 lead over Lee Sang-Ki. But in a fast-paced contest, the South Korean fought back and edged to within a point of victory at 14-12.

Fischer again showed strong resolve, hitting two quick points to draw level once more. Both fencers then recorded simultaneous hits to take the score to 15-15.

The bronze medal now rested on a single point, but as both fencers lunged forward it was the green light of Lee Sang-Ki that illuminated the scoreboard. Fischer’s fourth place finish was a greater achievement than many had expected of him, but after coming so close to the medals it was a tough end to a promising day.

swissinfo with agencies