UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo: Mohamed (EGY) and Lukes (CZE) take control in Semi-finals
- World gold and bronze medallists start new season strongly in Men’s Semi-finals
- El Ashqar (EGY) sets new Obstacle world record to set up Super Sunday thriller
- Hungary duo Koleszar and Szep impress along with Kovalchuk (UKR) and Rochat (FRA)
The 2025 world gold and bronze medallists, Moutaz Mohamed of Egypt and Matej Lukes of Czechia, made a strong start to the new season as they won their Semi-finals at UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo.
Mohamed (EGY) came from behind in Semi-final A with eye-catching Obstacle and Swimming skills, before shooting superbly in Laser Run to win by 3sec from Yuriy Kovalchuk of Ukraine, with Mihaly Koleszar of Hungary a few seconds back.
Lukes (CZE) had to play catch-up because of the irrepressible form of Mohamed El Ashqar (EGY), who set a new Obstacle world record before dominating Swimming, but finally finished just ahead of the local favourite in Semi-final B. Last year’s world silver medallist, Mathis Rochat of France, trailed home close behind them along with Balazs Szep (HUN).
Semi-final A
For the second consecutive day, the Fencing element of the first Semi-final was flipped on its head by a low seed going all the way through the Direct Elimination process. Germany veteran Christian Zillekens, seeded 15, took care of top-seeded Valentin Belaud (FRA) in the opening bout and didn’t look back, going on to defeat Kovalchuk (UKR) in the Top 4.
In the other Top 4 bout, 3rd seed Ivan Khamtsou (AIN) prevailed over No.2 Lukasz Gutkowski of Poland and reached the Final having only conceded four touches in his three bouts. Somehow, Zillekens (GER) summoned another masterclass to defeat Khamtsou (AIN) 5-1 and claim the maximum 250 points.
The Obstacle course saw some thrilling racing as the athletic Moustafa Abouamer (EGY) set the standard with an impeccable 21.39sec. Mohamed (EGY) also performed strongly with a sub-25sec, and another standout racer was Koleszar (HUN), whose time saw him slot into 2nd position overall behind Zillekens (GER). Paris 2024 Olympian Charles Brown of Great Britain succumbed to elimination after a second fault on the Tilting Ladders.
Mohamed (EGY) showed his all-round class with a brilliant 55.13sec to win Heat 2 of Swimming, ahead of Liuchang Li of China. Brown swam a 57sec to win Heat 1 and Koleszar (HUN) did the same in Heat 3, though his efforts had a profound impact as he moved into pole position in the standings, the only man to go into Laser Run with an advantage over Mohamed (EGY).
The world champion shot with stunning accuracy to make the Laser Run his own, taking the edge off his pace to conserve energy for tomorrow’s Final. Li (CHN) held his nerve to move up from 10th to 5th and Mourcia (FRA) was the other one to break up the party, surging to 8th with a typically rapid 10:12.35. Zillekens (GER), Abouamer (EGY) and Gutkowski (POL) stayed within the safe zone and finally it was Khamtsou (AIN) who occupied the 9th and final qualification berth, holding on in the final 600m to leave Marek Grycz (CZE) frustrated.
Semi-final B
This time two fencers emerged from the middle of the seedings to dominate the Direct Elimination, but again a member of the German team was the last man standing. Tim Leh (GER) showed impressive opportunism to pass through the rounds for a finale against Rochat (FRA). The Frenchman had priority and seemed to be happily playing the clock with the score at 1-1, but Leh (GER) squatted and scored a decisive leg shot to make it 2-1 at the end of the bout. Danylo Sych (UKR) and Zsombor Tarkanyi (HUN) were the losing semi-finalists.
Over to the rig and there was another masterclass from a man now established as the world’s fastest racer in Pentathlon Obstacle. El Ashqar (EGY) has rewritten his own world record a few times, amid pressure from team-mates, and he did it again today with a supreme 20.15sec. It is surely only a matter of time before El Ashqar (EGY) breaks the 20sec mark.
Mohamed Hassan (EGY) also stood out with 22.43, enabling him to sit just behind El Ashqar (EGY) on the leaderboard. Mohanad Shaban (EGY) and Rochat (FRA) each made one error, dropping several places in the overall standings.
El Ashqar (EGY) continued to impress in Swimming, winning Heat 3 in a blistering 54.78 to extend his overall lead to 21sec. A 56.01 from Shaban (EGY) pushed him back into contention (10th overall), while Rochat (FRA) also won his heat to strengthen his position.
In a dramatic Laser Run, Marvin Dogue (GER) almost came unstuck due to a pistol failure but moved to the reserve lane to preserve 8th place on the last lap. Behind him, Tarkanyi (HUN) had dropped a few places but bravely clung on to the final qualifying slot under huge pressure from Ugo Fleurot (FRA) and Shaban (EGY), who ultimately had to accept defeat. The star of the Laser Run was Shuai Luo (CHN), whose 10:27.35 enabled him to qualify fairly comfortably along with Hassan (EGY) and Sych (UKR).
Watch and follow
UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo takes place from April 8-12, with live stream of the Semi-finals and Finals available free on UIPM’s YouTube streaming service.
Finals schedule with stream start times (Central European Summer Time):
- Sunday April 12: Women’s Final (10:00), Men’s Final (15:00).
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