UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Cup Final: Seo (KOR) and Mohamed (EGY) shine in Men’s Semi-finals

· Korean veteran impresses in Semi-final A alongside debutant Lukes (CZE)

· Home hope follows Junior World Championship glory with Semi-final B win

· Veteran Belaud (FRA) produces stunning Laser Run to seal place in Final

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT: July 5, 2025 – Changwan Seo of Korea, Matej Lukes of Czechia and Moutaz Mohamed of Egypt were among the standout performers in the Men’s Semi-finals at the UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Cup Final.

Seo (KOR), a silver medallist in this competition in 2022, joined debutant Lukes (CZE) in crossing the line first at the end of an intriguing and demanding Semi-final A.

With the temperatures staying hot for the evening’s Semi-final B, it was home favourite Mohamed (EGY), winner of the UIPM Junior World Championships just last week, who overtook teenage tyro Akim Gnedtchik (AIN) to lead the nine qualifiers. Veteran Valentin Bealud of France overcame the heat with a scintillating Laser Run, rising from 14th to 6th to book his place in Sunday’s Final.

Semi-final A

A late call-up to the Egypt team due to injury, Mohanad Shaban made an instant mark on the competition in Fencing as he eliminated Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Giorgio Malan of Italy. The 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Final gold medallist met his match in the quarter-finals with Changwan Seo of Korea progressing to the last four. But the standout performers were No.1 seed Yauheni Arol (AIN) and No.7 seed Uladzislau Melkaziorau (AIN), and when they met in the final bout there was an upset as Melkaziorau (AIN) enjoyed a convincing win for the maximum 250 points.

There was more drama in Obstacle as world No.1 Malan (ITA) failed twice on the Tilting Ladders and was eliminated, effectively ending his chances of reaching the Men’s Final. Two athletes then demonstrated a mastery of the course, breaking the 30sec mark – Shaban (EGY, 27.80sec) and Bailiang Chen of China (28.97). And Melkaziorau (AIN) again had the edge on Arol (AIN) in the last heat, extending his overall lead.

Malan (ITA) did his best to salvage his competition in the last three disciplines, setting the fastest Swimming time of 2min 01.13sec before an outstanding Laser Run of 10:15.46 – but it was all in vain. Chen (CHN) continued to impress with a 2:01.25 in the pool while Lukes (CZE) and Roberto Micheli (ITA) also signalled their intent by going under 2:02.

Micheli (ITA) was both the hero and the villain of an exciting Laser Run under a scorching sun. Starting in 11th with a deficit of 11sec, he knew he had the pace to finish in the top nine but made life very difficult for himself with a false start (resulting in a 10sec penalty) and one horrible shoot taking around 35sec. Finally he clawed his way back and overtook Maksym Aharushev of Ukraine at the fourth shoot before moving past Todor Mihalev of Bulgaria and keeping just enough in the tank to hold him off in a sprint finish.

Semi-final B

Ukrainian piste prowess was on show from the first flashes of Fencing as Oleksandr Tovkai (UKR) and teammate Roman Popov (UKR) got down to business. The first upset of the discipline came when Cristian Chamizo of Spain defeated Belaud (FRA), who paid the price for stepping off the back line in their quarter-final. Gnedtchik (AIN) showed the fearlessness of youth as he ended the challenge of Olympian Matteo Cicinelli (ITA). Ultimately Tovkai (UKR) justified his top seeding as he used his nous to hold on in a gripping final against his protege Popov (UKR) to take maximum points.

Teenager Gnedtchik (AIN), the reigning World and European champion, made his mark on the competition by smashing the championship record with a jaw-dropping Obstacle performance. Gliding over ever challenge, he hit the buzzer in 00:23.51 taking two seconds off a course mark which had just been set by Mihaly Koleszar of Hungary moments earlier.

Mohamed (EGY) had been fourth-fastest over Obstacle and stayed consistent in the pool, seventh-fastest overall, to move into contention but Gnedtchik (AIN) kept his comfortable lead at the top of the field with a time of 02:06.50. The fastest Semi-final B time came from the impressive Shifan Ge of China, whose blistering swim of 02:03.33 catapulted him into the top three.

While those near the top of the standings looked relatively comfortable, the race for the final three or four spots in Sunday’s decider was wide open. With temperatures still north of 30C, an exacting Laser Run got interesting in a hurry. Mohamed (EGY) made his move with a rapid first shoot to rise to the head of the field. Tovkai (UKR), who’d started fourth, and Cicinelli (ITA), who’d started seventh, both tired and were there to be challenged. Up stepped Belaud (FRA) and Popov (UKR), climbing eight and seven places respectively. As Ge (CHN) agonizingly dropped back late on it was Titas Puronas of Lithuania and Pau Salomo (ESP) who claimed the precious last two Final places.

· UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Cup Final: All you need to know

The UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Cup Final reaches a climax tomorrow (July 6) with the Women's Final (08:00 CEST) followed by the Men’s Final (15:00 CEST). Live stream is available free on YouTube and UIPM TV and all competition results are available at the UIPM website.

Click here for a full list of the 18 athletes who qualified for the Men's Final.