Romania through to the semis in the men's sabre competition at the Olympics

Romania's men's sabre team have given themselves a great chance of a medal, with a resounding win over the Chinese in their quarter final match on Friday (August 3). After nine bouts, Romania won 45 – 30. After the first two bouts, Romania had a five point advantage over the Chinese and the gap hovered between four and five points for the next few rounds. Over the fifth and sixth bouts, Romania built up a commanding eleven point lead, before China narrowed the deficit to eight points in the seventh. In the final two rounds the Chinese failed to threaten and Rares Dumitrescu, Florin Zalomir and Tiberiu Dolniceanu stormed ahead to win by a 15 point margin. Romania will now face Russia in the semi finals. The Russian team beat the US squad 45 – 33. South Korea overcame Germany and will go on to face the Italians, who beat Belarus by just one point in the tightest quarter final match. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com