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High tempered Rota lands winning touch as Italy wins team titleLatest: Sunday October 01, 2000 04:24 AM
SYDNEY (CNNSI.com) -- Italy won its second consecutive gold medal in the men's team epee Monday with a sudden-death victory against France. Italy trailed throughout the final but rallied to force the extra time. Cuba won the bronze by defeating South Korea in a playoff. In a high-tempered match which saw two yellow cards and often brought loud cheers and boos from a vocal crowd, Alfredo Rota landed the winning touch on Hugues Obry to give Italy the tie 39-38. Cuba defeated South Korea in the playoff for bronze. The Italian team of Rota, Maurizio Randazzo and Paolo Milanoli had not been ahead once during the entire final but were always within striking distance of the lead. The French trio of Obry, Eric Srecki and Jean Francois di Martino were four points ahead at several stages but Italy drew level with two and a half minutes remaining. The fiery sides of both Latin and Gallic temperaments were frequently on display in the final of a event more associated in the mind of the layman with chivalry and decorum. The Italian camp howled with protest and their supporters made obscene gestures from the crowd when Randazzo had a point disallowed in the second of the game's nine bouts, apparently for stepping outside the designated playing area. Milanoli delighted and infuriated parts of the crowd in equal measure by often skipping around with his guard down provocatively or clenching his fist with his free hand. "I enjoy putting on a bit of a show when there's an occasion," he said afterwards. But he added there were tactics behind his antics too. "I wanted to get away from the technical patterns, where they [the French] are very strong," he said. The Italians had also left it late to defeat South Korea in the semifinal. Rota was once again the key man, turning round a five-point deficit in the final period. Reuters contributed to this report.
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