Azerbaijan's women's sabre team finished fourth at the Fencing World Cup stage held in Oran, Algeria, after injuries prevented the squad from competing in the semifinals.
As reported by İdman.Biz, citing the Azerbaijan Fencing Federation, the national team consisted of Anna Bashta, Palina Kaspiarovich, Sabina Karimova and Zarifa Huseynova.
Azerbaijan began their campaign with a hard-fought 45-43 victory over the United States, securing a place in the quarterfinals.
The team then defeated Uzbekistan by the same score, 45-43, in another closely contested encounter to advance to the semifinals.
However, injuries sustained by Palina Kaspiarovich and Zarifa Huseynova during the previous two matches forced Azerbaijan to withdraw from their semifinal clash against Hungary, who went on to win the World Cup event.
As a result, the Azerbaijani squad finished fourth among 21 participating teams, narrowly missing out on a podium finish despite two impressive victories.
In the individual competition, Anna Bashta, Palina Kaspiarovich and Sabina Karimova successfully progressed through the group stage but were eliminated in the playoff rounds, failing to qualify for the main draw.
Zarifa Huseynova, meanwhile, ended her individual campaign at an earlier stage.
