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2005 Leipzig DVDs -- Men's Sabre DVD
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2005 World Championships DVDs In October 2005, Fencing Pictures sent its own team to the World Championships, a four-man squad with a a cameraman, a commentator, a designer, and an internet tech. Ten long, busy days later, we had interviews, pictures, a website, and 6 complete days of broadcast-quality fencing video in the can. There was so much footage to go through, it took a month just to sort it out. The result is a 6-DVD set, chock full of fencing goodness, which is available individually or as a collection. Each DVD is filled to capacity with 2 hours of fencing, shot from 9 different cameras. The footage has swoops, pans, slow-motion repeats, on-screen graphics, and an optional audio track with commentary by Alex Ripa and fencers like Ivan Lee (USA), Aida Mohammed (Hungary), Sherraine Mackay (Canada), Linda Strachan (UK), Paul Soter (USA), Lindsey Campbell (USA), Maya Lawrence (USA), and more! The bonus material (varies by DVD) includes interviews with fencing notables, extra bouts from the rounds of 16 and 8, and awards ceremonies.
The 2005 Leipzig World Championships DVDs is the best collection of competition fencing video available in the world. |
Men's Sabre DVD
Men's sabre has never been more exciting, with a field full of recognizable giants like Pozdniakov, Covaliu, Tarantino, Montano, and Nemcsik. In Leipzig, the finals were owned by Eastern Europe -- you have to go down to 6th place (Aldo Montano, Italy) to find a finisher who is not from the former Eastern Bloc. The semi-finals feature Stanislaw Pozdniakov (Russia), Mihail Covaliu (Romania), and Alexey Yakimenko (Russia), as well as the young middle-finisher Oleg Sturbabin (Ukraine), in a standout performance. To get there, Sturbabin upset 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist Zsold Necmsik (Hungary), and Pozdniakov had to defeat the fiery 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Aldo Montano (of Italy, who in turn had to defeat teammate Tarantino in the round of 16).
In Men's team sabre, Russia meets the deep Italian squad in one of the best matches ever caught on film. Pozdniakov (Russia) vs Yakimenko (Russia) Stanislaw Pozdniakov (Russia), as Ivan Lee declares in the commentary, is the "God of Sabre" -- vastly experienced, unflappable, and very, very fast for a man of his 'advanced age' (he is 32). Here, he confronts a fellow teammate, Alexey Yakimenko. If there is a fencer who can upset Pozdniakov so close to the gold, it would be someone intimately familiar with his fencing. And indeed the first touch does go to Yakimenko. But Pozdniakov quickly earns it back, and then adds a string of ripostes, prise de fers, and long attacks. Watch as Pozdniakov makes the correct choice in action after action, with frightening omniscience. He quickly shows that he is more familiar with Yakimenko than vice versa.
Covaliu (Romania) vs Shturbabin (The Ukraine) Covaliu comes out strong with a committed attack and a huge scream of victory. Shturbabin answers with a strong attack of his own -- which Covaliu handily meets with a parry riposte. Covaliu is a fun fencer to watch, especially if you credit his every move on strip (the scream) with an immediate payoff (over-commitment from Sturbabin) and a long-term advantage (Covaliu's initiative earns him a score of 5-1 in the first 4 seconds of fencing).
It takes some heavy work for Sturbabin to balance the score again. When Sturbabin keeps the score even through the next several exchanges, Covaliu realizes it will take more than gamesmanship to beat the him -- the Ukrainian is on fire this day. So, for his eighth point (finishing the first period), Covaliu scores on an exceedingly difficult counter-parry riposte. Covaliu's smarts are only matched by his tremendous skill. Covaliu (Romania) vs Pozdniakov (Russia) Two titans of sabre meet on strip. Covaliu was a close #2 at the 2003 World Championships, while Pozdniakov was the 2001 and 2002 world champion. Pozdniakov racks up some handy touches early in the bout, but Covaliu is unafraid of Pozdniakov's reputation, and scrambles to generate advantage from his seemingly endless bag of tricks. (Is he REALLY injured in the middle of the bout? The crowd doesn't think so. Maybe they saw him grinning.) By the end of this bout, the unflappable Pozdniakov has, amazingly, begun to lose composure. Covaliu's deviousness, speed, and technique translates into one... two... flat-out misses from the Russian in near distance, right when it counts the most. Meanwhile, the two fencers bring out tremendous phrases that cross the strip several times, beautiful blade technique with multiple actions, and tempo that makes you thankful for the video's slow-motion repeats. The final bout comes down to Pozdniakov's omniscient experience and Covaliu's wit, and it's fought with wonderful technique and tactics on both sides.
Team Final: Italy versus Russia Team Russia, while it placed better individually than the Italians, knows it has a big fight coming up, given the epic depth of the Italian squad: Luigi Tarantino, Aldo Montano (2004 Olympic Gold Medalist), and Gianpiero Pastore. The Italians are tremendously experienced, but they, too, are taking this seriously. Tarantino takes a warm-up lesson with his coach (sans mask!) behind the seats, working tempo specifically for the greatest Russian threat: Pozdniakov. On strip, the Italians struggle to get large point spreads, only to see their leads eaten by the unmatchable Pozdniakov. The other Russians are no slouches, either, and manage to put themselves within 5 points by the final bout. Tarantino mounts the strip to face Pozdniakov -- he must score five touches before "the Pozd" can score ten. In most other match-ups, this wouldn't necessarily turn into a screaming nail-biter of a bout, with the commentators incredulously following the action. This team match must be seen to be believed.
Excellent commentary with Alex Ripa and guest commentator Ivan Lee (USA), US Sabre Team.
Extras:
by Walter Flaschka
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