# Fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre

The men's sabre was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from October 19 to 20, 1964. 52 fencers from 21 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Tibor Pézsa, the final of nine straight Games in which a Hungarian fencer won the event. The silver medal went to Claude Arabo of France, with Umyar Mavlikhanov of the Soviet Union taking bronze.

## Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Four of the eight finalists from 1960 returned: bronze medalist Wladimiro Calarese of Italy, fourth-place finisher Claude Arabo of France, sixth-place finisher (and 1956 silver medalist) Jerzy Pawłowski of Poland (who, in 1968, would finally break the Hungarian run of nine straight gold medals in the event), and eighth-place finisher Yakov Rylsky of the Soviet Union. Rylsky had won three of the last five world championships (1958, 1961, and 1963). Pawłowski was the only other world champion present; he had won in 1957. Hungary, dominant in men's sabre since 1908, was finally thought vulnerable to the rising stars of Poland and the Soviet Union; the French champion, Arabo, was also a strong contender.
Ireland, Iran, Malaysia, and the Netherlands Antilles each made their debut in the men's sabre. Italy made its 13th appearance in the event, most of any nation, having missed the inaugural 1896 event and the 1904 Olympics.

## Competition format

The 1964 tournament introduced a hybrid pool-play and knockout format. The competition began with two rounds of pool play. In each round, the fencers were divided into pools to play a round-robin within the pool. Bouts were to five touches. Barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement. The competition then shifted to knockout rounds. These rounds used a single-elimination tournament format to reduce the remaining field from 24 to 16, then from 16 to 8, then from 8 to 4. There were also classification semifinals and a fifth-place match for the quarterfinal losers. Bouts in these knockout rounds were to 10 touches. The four quarterfinal winners then resumed pool play once again for the final. Standard sabre rules were used.
* Round 1: There were 8 pools of 6 or 7 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to round 2.
* Round 2: There were 4 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the knockout rounds.
* Knockout rounds: The 16 fencers were seeded into a truncated single-elimination tournament. Two knockout rounds were held, finishing with the quarterfinals.
* Classification: There were knockout-style classification matches for 5th place (two 5th–8th semifinals and a 5th/6th match).
* Final: The final pool had 4 fencers.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, 19 October 1964 | 8:30 | Round 1 Round 2 |
| Wednesday, 14 October 1964 | 17:30 17:30 | Round of 16 Quarterfinals Classification 5–8 Final |

## Results
### Round 1
#### Round 1 pool A

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Yakov Rylsky | Soviet Union | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Pierluigi Chicca | Italy | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Ioan Drimba | Romania | 3 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Rafael González | Argentina | 2 | 3 | B |
| 4 | Ignacio Posada | Colombia | 2 | 3 | B |
| 6 | Michael Ryan | Ireland | 0 | 5 | |

##### Barrage A

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 4 | Ignacio Posada | Colombia | 1 | 0 | Q |
| 5 | Rafael González | Argentina | 0 | 1 | |

#### Round 1 pool B

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Jerzy Pawlowsky | Poland | 6 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Eugene Hamori | United States | 5 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Cesare Salvadori | Italy | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Octavian Vintila | Romania | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Jan Boutmy | Netherlands Antilles | 2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Loc Nguyen The | Vietnam | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Ronnie Theseira | Malaysia | 0 | 6 | |

#### Round 1 pool C

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Andrzej Piatkowski | Poland | 5 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Wladimiro Calarese | Italy | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Thomas Orley | United States | 3 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Shibata Seiji | Japan | 2 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Robert Foxcroft | Canada | 1 | 5 | |
| 6 | Houshmand Almasi | Iran | 0 | 6 | |

#### Round 1 pool D

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Peter Bakonyi | Hungary | 5 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Attila Keresztes | United States | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | J. Theuerkauff | United Team of Germany | 3 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Teruhiro Kitao | Japan | 2 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Emilio Echeverri | Colombia | 1 | 5 | |
| 6 | Nasser Madani | Iran | 0 | 5 | |

#### Round 1 pool E

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Mark Rakita | Soviet Union | 6 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Jacques Lefevre | France | 5 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Funamizu Mitsuyuki | Japan | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Dieter Wellman | United Team of Germany | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Richard Oldcorn | Great Britain | 2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Bijan Zarnegar | Iran | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Xuan Tran Van | Vietnam | 0 | 6 | |

#### Round 1 pool F

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Marcel Parent | France | 5 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Emil Ochyra | Poland | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Walter Kostner | United Team of Germany | 3 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Alexander Leckie | Great Britain | 2 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Henry Sommerville | Australia | 1 | 4 | |
| 6 | J. Bouchier-Hayes | Ireland | 0 | 5 | |

#### Round 1 pool G

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Attila Kovacs | Hungary | 6 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Claude Arabo | France | 5 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Arnold Cooperman | Great Britain | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Yves Brasseur | Belgium | 2 | 4 | B |
| 4 | Alexander Martonffy | Australia | 2 | 4 | B |
| 4 | Enrique Penabella | Cuba | 2 | 4 | B |
| 7 | Juan Frecia | Argentina | 1 | 5 | |

##### Barrage G

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 4 | Enrique Penabella | Cuba | 2 | 0 | Q |
| 5 | Yves Brasseur | Belgium | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Alexander Martonffy | Australia | 0 | 1 | |

#### Round 1 pool H

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Tănase Mureșanu | Romania | 6 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Umar Mavlikhanov | Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Tibor Pézsa | Hungary | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Alberto Lanteri | Argentina | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | John Andru | Canada | 2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Les Tornallyay | Australia | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Humberto Posada | Colombia | 1 | 5 | |

### Round 2
#### Round 2 pool A

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Yakov Rylsky | Soviet Union | 6 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Dieter Wellman | United Team of Germany | 5 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Tibor Pézsa | Hungary | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Marcel Parent | France | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Wladimiro Calarese | Italy | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Attila Keresztes | United States | 3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Funamizu Mitsuyuki | Japan | 2 | 5 | |
| 8 | Octavian Vintila | Romania | 1 | 6 | |

#### Round 2 pool B

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Jerzy Pawlowski | Poland | 6 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Umar Mavlikhanov | Soviet Union | 5 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Attila Kovacs | Hungary | 5 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Jacques Lefevre | France | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Ioan Drimba | Romania | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Gudrum Theuerkauff | United Team of Germany | 3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Shibata Seiji | Japan | 1 | 6 | |
| 8 | Alexander Leckie | Great Britain | 1 | 6 | |

#### Round 2 pool C

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Mark Rakita | Soviet Union | 7 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Claude Arabo | France | 6 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Walter Kostner | United Team of Germany | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Pierluigi Chicca | Italy | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Thomas Orley | United States | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Andrzej Piatkowski | Poland | 3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Alberto Lanteri | Argentina | 1 | 6 | |
| 8 | Ketao Teruhiro | Japan | 0 | 7 | |

#### Round 2 pool D

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Emil Ochyra | Poland | 7 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Peter Bakonyi | Hungary | 5 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Cesare Salvadori | Italy | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Tanase Muresan | Romania | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Eugene Hamori | United States | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Arnold Cooperman | Great Britain | 2 | 5 | |
| 7 | Humberto Posada | Colombia | 2 | 5 | |
| 8 | Enrique Penabella | Cuba | 1 | 6 | |

### Knockout rounds

The winner of each group advanced to the final pool, while the runner-up moved into a 5th-place semifinal.

#### Group 1

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Yakov Rylsky (URS) | 10 |
| Jacques Lefevre (FRA) | 6 | | |
| Jacques Lefevre (FRA) | 6 | Yakov Rylsky (URS) | 10 |
| | | Walter Kostner (EUA) | 5 |
| Walter Kostner (EUA) | 10 | Walter Kostner (EUA) | 5 |
| Jerzy Pawlowski (POL) | 9 | | |

#### Group 2

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Tibor Pézsa (HUN) | 10 |
| Mark Rakita (URS) | 6 | | |
| Mark Rakita (URS) | 6 | Tibor Pézsa (HUN) | 10 |
| | | Marcel Parent (FRA) | 7 |
| Marcel Parent (FRA) | 10 | Marcel Parent (FRA) | 7 |
| Tanase Muresan (ROU) | 7 | | |

#### Group 3

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Umar Mavlikhanov (URS) | 10 |
| Peter Bakonyi (HUN) | 9 | | |
| Peter Bakonyi (HUN) | 9 | Umar Mavlikhanov (URS) | 10 |
| | | Emil Ochyra (POL) | 9 |
| Emil Ochyra (POL) | 10 | Emil Ochyra (POL) | 9 |
| Cesare Salvadori (ITA) | 6 | | |

#### Group 4

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| Claude Arabo (FRA) | 10 |
| Pierluigi Chicca (ITA) | 4 | | |
| Pierluigi Chicca (ITA) | 4 | Claude Arabo (FRA) | 10 |
| | | Dieter Wellman (EUA) | 6 |
| Dieter Wellman (EUA) | 10 | Dieter Wellman (EUA) | 6 |
| Attila Kovacs (HUN) | 9 | | |

### Fifth place semifinal

| Fifth place semifinals | Fifth place semifinals | Fifth place match | Fifth place match |
| Emil Ochyra (POL) | 10 |
| Walter Kostner (EUA) | 5 | | |
| Walter Kostner (EUA) | 5 | Emil Ochyra (POL) | 10 |
| | | Marcel Parent (FRA) | 5 |
| Dieter Wellman (EUA) | 9 | Marcel Parent (FRA) | 5 |
| Marcel Parent (FRA) | 10 | | |

### Final

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Claude Arabo | France | 2 | 1 | GB |
| 1 | Tibor Pézsa | Hungary | 2 | 1 | GB |
| 3 | Umar Mavlikhanov | Soviet Union | 1 | 2 | BB |
| 3 | Yakov Rylsky | Soviet Union | 1 | 2 | BB |

#### Bronze medal barrage

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses |
| | Umar Mavlikhanov | Soviet Union | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Yakov Rylsky | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 |

#### Gold medal barrage

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses |
| | Tibor Pézsa | Hungary | 1 | 0 |
| | Claude Arabo | France | 0 | 1 |