The Estonian women's épée team won the silver medal at the World Championships, losing to Italy 31-30 in the final.
The team, composed of Julia Beljajeva, Irina Embrich, Katrina Lehis, and Veronika Zuikova, was seeded seventh at the tournament.
Estonia opened the knockout rounds with a 36-25 victory over Romania in the round of 32, then defeated Canada 45-25 in the round of 16, losing only one of nine bouts.
In the quarterfinal, Estonia beat reigning world champions and Paris Olympic silver medalist France 45-34. They then defeated Hungary 42-34 in the semifinal to reach the final.
The last time the Estonian women's épée team reached a World Championships final was 2017, when they defeated China for gold.
Katrina Lehis is reported to be the reigning European champion in women's épée and won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 individual event, according to official records. Three team members (Lehis, Beljajeva, and Embrich) were part of the Estonian team that won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to the latest world rankings, after the World Championships, Estonia reportedly rose to 4th with 291 points. South Korea leads with 376 points, Italy is second with 316, and the USA is third with 296 points.
The qualification period for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is reportedly scheduled to start on April 1 next year, with the top four in the rankings qualifying directly, plus the best from each zone for a total of eight teams.