The Dutch épée fencers narrowly missed their first-ever European title on Wednesday in Genoa. The Netherlands lost the final of the team event against France, but the silver medal was still a huge upset.
Tristan Tulen, David van Nunen, and Konrad Veenenbos competed for the Netherlands in the final. They lost to the French team with a score of 29-44.
The Netherlands caused an upset in the quarterfinals, achieving a resounding victory over Olympic champion Hungary, the world’s number one: 45-38.
In the semi-final against Germany, things seemed to go wrong for the Netherlands when Rafaël Tulen twisted his ankle. But Veenenbos proved to be a worthy replacement and won all his matches, leading the Netherlands to a 45-28 victory.
The Dutch fencers have never won gold at a European Championship. Bas Verwijlen (2011) and Tristan Tulen (2012) did win individual European silver medals in épée.
At the individual tournament in Genoa, all Dutch fencers were eliminated early.