UIPM 2023 World Championships: Demeter (HUN) in front after Men’s Semi-Finals

Bence Demeter of Hungary will go into a mouth-watering Men’s Final at the UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Championships with the slimmest of margins after today’s dramatic Semi-Finals.

Demeter (HUN) will line up alongside vaunted teammate and world No.3 Csaba Bohm (HUN) in a glittering final field of 18 carrying a five-point overall lead after impressing in the Fencing Ranking Round.

While Demeter (HUN) scored 23 victories from his 35 bouts to lead the field, hot on his heels are some of the biggest names in the game including Mohanad Shaban of Egypt, the UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Final winner, and Joseph Choong of Great Britain, the reigning Olympic champion who is sure to be roared on by the home fans in Bath (GBR) on Super Sunday. Also scoring 22 victories were Mohamed Elgendy of Egypt and Linbin Zhang of China.

Today’s Semi-final A culminated in an exciting sprint finish which saw Emiliano Hernandez of Mexico and Martin Vlach of Czechia cross the line together with Vlach (CZE) clocking a scorching Laser Run time of 9:56.80. Just a second behind the leaders, there was a four-strong blanket finish including teammates Shaban (EGY) and Ahmed Elgendy (EGY), the Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medalist. Charles Brown of Great Britain was another to impress as he comfortably advanced to the final.

It was the younger of the Elgendy brothers, Mohamed (EGY) who led home the field in Semi-final B with a daily high score of 1,211 points, finishing just 1sec ahead of Korea teammates Woongtae Jun and Jihun Lee. While Myles Pillage of Great Britain progressed to Sunday’s decider there was almost a stunning upset when Choong (GBR) scraped through to claim the last of the 18 Final places by just a second from Patrick Dogue of Germany. In a field stacked full of potential winners, Valentin Belaud of France, a two-time winner in this competition, also progressed and shapes as a dark horse. 

Up to three places in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be on the line in both the Women’s  and Men’s Finals on Super Sunday (August 27).

Watch and follow

The UIPM 2023 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships can be watched live on UIPM TV, where annual subscriptions cost €14.99. All results are available on the UIPM website and via the UIPM Central app.

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The UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Championships runs from August 22-28, based on the following schedule (UIPM TV live coverage times in Central European Summer Time).

• Sunday, August 27 | Women’s Final (11.15am) | Men’s Final (4.15pm)
• Monday, August 28 | Mixed Relay (2.15pm)

The UIPM 2023 Laser Run World Championships took place from August 19-21. Click here to read reports.