Romania's men's sabre team won the silver medal yesterday ( August 4 ) in London. It takes Romania to seven Olympic medals in total so far – one gold, four silver and two bronze – and was the country's first fencing medal at this year's Games.

After a comfortable victory over China in the quarter finals, Romania faced the mighty Russian team, much fancied to take the gold. But the Romanians were not about to give up; the opening bouts were tight and at the end of the third, Russia led by 15 points to 13. In the fourth round, Romania's Tiberiu Dolniceanu put in a great turn, leading by 20 to 17 at the end of the bout. Over the next few bouts Romania extended their lead and were up six points going into the penultimate eighth bout. Disaster struck, and Romania lost the round 10 – 5, which brought the Russians to just a one point deficit. It all came down to the final bout, where Romania's Florin Zalomir (in picture), ranked 39th, faced the number two in the world, Alexey Yakimenko. But it was Romania's day and Zalomir won the bout 5 – 4, giving Romania a place in the final with a final score of 45 – 43.

In the final, the Romanian fairytale ended and the South Korean team continued their odds beating Olympics to take the gold with a comfortable 45 – 26 victory. Before this year's Games, South Korea had only ever won three fencing medals, but the men's team sabre gave the country's fencers their second gold and fifth medal in the London Olympics' fencing competition.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: London 2012 official site