The Iranian men's sabre team has climbed two places in the newest International Fencing Federation rankings of the world’s national sabre squads, moving within the top ten in the overall standing.
The latest ranking released by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) saw Iran’s tally of point stand at 196, putting the team in the ninth place.
Germany topped the ranking with 354 points, followed by South Korea and Italy with 318 and 296 points, respectively. Russia occupies the fourth place with 276 points, while Hungary is fifth with 266.
The two other Asian powerhouses, China and Japan, gained 196 and 102 points respectively and landed in the 10th and 15th spots.
Iran's ascent comes after the Iranian national sabre team, comprising Mojtaba Abedini, Ali Pakdaman, Mohammad Rahbari and Farzad Baher Arasbaran, claimed the silver medal of the 2015 Asian Fencing Championships (AFC) following defeat to South Korea 45-37 in the men's team final contests on June 30.
China defeated Kazakhstan 45-30 in the third-place match to win the bronze.
The 2015 AFC were held in Singapore from July 25 to 30 at the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang.
The AFC are organized by the Asian Fencing Confederation for the Asia-Oceania zone. The championships first started in the Chinese capital of Beijing in 1989. The tournament used to be staged biannually up until 2007, but annually since then.
Sabre is a light cutting and thrusting weapon in the sport of fencing. In the sabre section, the entire body above the waist, except the weapon hand, is targeted. Hits with the entire blade or point are valid. Touches that land outside of the target area are not scored.
MP/HMV/SS