His progress was slower amongst seniors, but he joined the national sabre team. Along with Florin Zalomir, Cosmin Hănceanu, and Rareș Dumitrescu, Romania created a surprise by beating favourite Italy to win the gold medal in the 2009 World Championships in Antalya. For this performance, Dolniceanu and his teammates received the Order of Sports Merit, class IIa. The same team went on to win the bronze in the 2010 World Championships in Paris. Dolniceanu transferred in 2011 to CS Dinamo București and began training under Mihai Covaliu, who also coaches the national team.