2022 162 P1 01 M S Individual Padova ITA GP PODIUM SZILAGYI HUN vs GU KOR

I'm just looking at their head-to-heads here, and they've met a lot of times. Let's see, going back to 2009 at the Junior World Championships in Belfast. And without going into specifics, according to match-up history, Zilagi holds 64% of the wins, and Gu, 36. And this is going to be a great match, and we've got a great referee, Vasil Malenchev, to call it. Ooh, ooh, big parry there from Zilagi, but he can't land the riposte. Zilagi looking for the parry, looking for the blade. Doesn't find it. Gu is through. Gu is attacking the preparation, I think, maybe as a primary objective. Last time they met was the 6th of March, 2020, at the Luxembourg World Cup. Last three times they've met, going back to 2017, Zilagi has won. Oh, he gets the parry again, and can't land it this time, he does. This is like a Fraser-Ali match. Oh, nice attack from Zilagi. Re-level. Zilagi looking for the blade again, maybe a counter, but that wasn't going to stop Gu Bungil. Zilagi asking for a video review. Let's see if we can, well, looking at that video, it looks like Zilagi stepped in and stopped, and Gu with the counter. Gu took a shot to the knee there. Card's going to come out for Gu. Final action, parry, riposte, Gu. Zilagi gets the parry. Can he get the riposte? He can, that was lovely. But most of this first period, Gu has just been muscling Zilagi. Great counter there. Oh, Gu misses, Zilagi made him miss. Here comes Zilagi. Can he find a way through? He does, he does, that was a beautiful attack. He built that, he built that. Yeah, that was good. Andy had him turned and caught him on the outside of his arm. Preparation, Zilagi, eight-six, we go to the one-minute break, and wow, what a match. We have been spoiled here in this final Grand Prix of the season. Just some fantastic, first of all, just fantastic talent on display. But the quality of the fencing has just been awesome. Coach Deci, Zilagi's gotta do something here. I mean, he's won three Olympic gold medals in a row. He's one of the smartest and also the nicest people on the circuit. But he's got to make a change here, I think, or else Gu will just continue to muscle him. And, you know, Gu's not exactly out of the woods either. No, it was that. Parry, but no riposte. Zilagi doing a little muscling himself. No separation. Zilagi threw on the attack. We're level. Oh, Zilagi, that was up in the air. I guess we're not gonna get a replay of that. But that was replay material. Is Zilagi gonna get a card now? Yes. Oh, no. No, Gu is gonna get the card. Second yellow card for Gu, so that means it's a red. So, a bonus point to Aaron Zilagi. Preparation Zilagi. Oh, really powerful from Zilagi. His mobility in any circumstance is superb, but he is up to the pace in the second period. He's not standing still. He's moving his feet, he's moving his body, and he's flying through the air and making life really difficult for Gu Banguil. Ah, and he's looking for the blade right there at the end of the piece, and it's simply not there. But Gu looks, he looks pretty wound up. Is he talking to himself? I guess he is. But he's pretty tense. No separation there. Ooh, Zilagi comes short. Gu brings it level. I'm not sure how much more excitement I can stand. What is he doing? He just keeps bending over and staring at the floor and talking to himself. And now he's picking up the rubbish. The next thing you know, he's gonna go over and wash Basho Malenco's car. Zilagi looking for the parry. What is he doing? Now he's taken his mask off. He's gone down on the piste. Now he's got his mask off, he's, he looks, he does not look well. He does not look well at all. And the medical team's come over. I mean, I'm just, I'm right in front of him. And, you know, earlier I was wondering what he was doing. Cause he kept just bending over and, and maybe it's heat. Maybe he's just having a bad reaction to heat because it's warm in here. It's very warm. And I remember 2013, the Legnano European Championships. It was so hot. This, this building is not, is neither air conditioned nor is it much ventilated. And it's actually quite uncomfortable in here, but in Legnano in Italy in 2013, European Championships, the athletes would sit around with ice bags on their heads to sort of keep them. And there were some, you know, some medical issues. So I can see where you got all that heavy, heavy kit on and the heat starts getting to you. Oh no. That was really a nice hit from Gu. But yeah, I mean, if you're, if you're a fencer, you, you know, you've got that kit on a lot. And we're back level again. He's, he's holding, the medics are coming back out. They're going to put an ice pack on his, on his head, but he says no. So Szilagyi needs a hit here. Oh, and he gets it. He gets it. Just a super fast, direct attack. And here we go again, 14, 14. Oh, big parry. Now the referee must check the video before making a call. He cannot give a judgment until the video is reviewed. But that was a furious exchange. Aaron Szilagyi of Hungary. Our Padua Grand Prix 21-22 champion. And, and I would surmise that he will be the winner of the Trofeo Luxardo. As we mentioned earlier, this competition is normally a men's World Cup, but because of circumstances beyond our control, like COVID and international situations, the hosts graciously agreed to convert it into a Grand Prix. And so here we are. But congratulations to Gu Ban-Gil. What a fabulous match that was and full of, full of drama. I'm not sure we understood all the drama, but when you, when you're watching Gu or any Hungarian fencer, you were watching the best. You were watching the, you were, you were watching, you were watching theater, you are watching sport. You were watching, you know, drama all in one big basket. And, you know, we had that again tonight. So we're going to have a medal ceremony coming up next.