One of the changes to fencing at the World Cup level is the advent of video replay review of touches. This came into play after the Chinese men’s foil team felt that the referee in their gold medal bout was favoring the Italian team.
In a recent interview with multiple world-champion Stanislave Pozdniakov, the Russian sabre champion was asked about the use of video replay.
While some people are saying can interrupt the momentum of the bout, other people are also saying that, perhaps, it can be used to their advantage if they need a break, if they need to catch their breath.
When asked: How do you feel about video refereeing?
Pozdniakov replied, “Overall, I like video refereeing. But, there is a situation right now that if you have weak – weak directors then it takes it and makes it even more obvious that this director is not at the level to direct. Because if he cannot get the place right at the beginning, and then even after the video refereeing, he cannot get it right, then it creates a problem because it’s obvious to everybody that this director is just a weak director.”
“Video refereeing is very important – extremely important because it gives me a chance to actually make a pause when I really need it – to take a break – to – like – Even at the situation when I know I lost the touch, I would use video refereeing for my tactical advantage to take this break and to change the momentum.”
Video replay looks to be here to stay, and is being reported on favorably by many of the top fencers. Rather than a way to slow down the bout, most are using it to make sure the referee gets the calls right – which is paramount to any sport.
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