Italy sent reigning champion Russia home with a 45-42 win
Thursday to set up a men's team sabre final against France, who
survived a 45-44 sensational win over the United States.
Luigi Tarantino held Russian Stanislav Pozdniakov to only two
points on his third appearance of the game.
"It was a very hard game. They played very well, but we are
hungry for the gold medal so we tried a lot," Tarantino said.
"We are a team, that's why we win the games. We tried very hard
to advance and now it is impossible to lose the gold medal," said
Aldo Montano, who won the gold medal of the individual event.
After tying 44-44, France's Damien Touya was injured on his
right hand on a non-valid attack against American Keeth Smart.
The match was resumed after 9:46 minutes break as the
right-handed Touya had a court-side bandage. The two roused to
another two non-valid strikes before Touya won the referee on their
third clash.
Touya went to the medical room for more treatment after the
game. "I don't know if I can play in the final until after a few
hours," he said.
His brother, Gael, said, "when my brother got injured I felt
very bad. It was a very emotional moment for me. I left the court
because I could not see it any more."
"I don't know how serious the injure is or whether he will be
able to play at the final," he added.
Hungary finished fifth, the same results as they did in the 2000
Sydney Olympics, after a 45-40 win over Ukraine, while China taking
the seventh place with a 45-42 win over Greece.
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(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2004)