Hungarian Mate Koch deprived the Italian tifosi of a second title on Wednesday in Milan by beating the house prodigy Davide Di Veroli (14-10) to clinch his first world title, a few minutes after the coronation of local Alice Volpi at foil.
The Magyar rises at 23 on his first podium in a major championship. World No.12, Mate Koch had collected four World Cup podiums in fifteen months. Crowned European champion last month at the age of 21, Davide Di Veroli had already delighted the Milan public by dismissing in the semi-final nothing less than the Olympic champion and then reigning world champion, the Frenchman Romain Cannone.
The previous world champion was already Hungarian, Gergely Siklósi. He had also been eliminated by Mate Koch in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.