Tunisia’s Fares Ferjani narrowly missed out on becoming Africa’s first gold medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, securing a silver medal in the men's individual sabre. The 27-year-old was defeated 15-11 by South Korea’s Oh Sanguk at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Ferjani, who was seeded 13th, delivered an impressive performance, particularly in the semi-finals where he overcame the world number one, Ziad Elsissy. Despite this victory, he was unable to replicate the upset in the final against Oh.

Born in Tunis and currently based in New York, Ferjani had previously finished 22nd at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 25th at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. His best prior result in individual sabre competition was an 8th-place finish at the World Championships in Wuxi, China, in 2018.

Ferjani’s silver medal marks Tunisia’s 16th Olympic medal since the country first competed as an independent nation at the Rome Olympics in 1960. Tunisia has accumulated five golds, four silvers, and seven bronzes over the years. The Tunisian delegation to Paris 2024 is the smallest in two decades, with only 26 athletes qualifying, compared to 63 for the Tokyo Olympics.

In other fencing news, Egypt’s top seed Ziad Elsissy faced disappointment as he lost the bronze medal match to Italy’s Luigi Samele, who triumphed 15-12. Elsissy will have another opportunity to secure a medal when Egypt begins their team sabre campaign on Wednesday.