Szilagyi and Kim are two of the quickest fencers on the circuit, and their matches are reliably spectacular. The speed of Szilagyi’s bladework is legendary: he often seems to be doing two or three blade actions in the time it takes his opponents to do one. All his pretty preparations and feints, though, are all too often the intro to a seriously brutal final hit. This exchange from the final at the 2014 Coupe Acropolis in Athens is a classic illustration:
[gfycat data_id="EssentialPlushAmericanbadger"]Ouch. Nice distance.
This the second time this pair faced off in a World Cup final in 2014. During the first match, in Budapest, Kim pulled ahead after trailing significantly throughout the early stages to score a major upset win, but not without being injured in the process by a powerful hit to his right hand. He’s had a recurring string of hand injuries all season, including one during his semifinal against Yakimenko in Athens. By the time he had his rematch with Szilagyi in the final, he was a little more cautious than usual, which allowed Szilagyi to dominate the bout. Video from CyrusofChaos: