Tiberiu Dolniceanu

Tiberiu Dolniceanu (Romanian pronunciation: [tiˈberju dolniˈt͡ʃe̯anu]; born 3 April 1988)[1] is a Romanian sabre fencer, European champion in 2013 and bronze medal in the 2013 World championships. As part of Romania's sabre team, he won the team silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics and the team gold medal in the 2009 World Championships in Antalya.

Tiberiu Dolniceanu
At the 2013 World Fencing Championships in Budapest
Personal information
Full nameTiberiu Alexandru Dolniceanu
Nickname(s)Tibi
Born (1988-04-03) 3 April 1988
Iași, Romania
NationalityRomanian
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb; 11.7 st)
Sport
CountryRomania
SportFencing
WeaponSabre
Handright-handed
National coachMihai Covaliu
ClubCS Dinamo București
Assistant coachDan Găureanu
Former coachIulian Bițucă
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2012 LondonTeam
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 AntalyaTeam
Silver medal – second place2013 BudapestTeam
Bronze medal – third place2010 ParisTeam
Bronze medal – third place2013 BudapestIndividual
Bronze medal – third place2014 KazanIndividual
Bronze medal – third place2015 MoscowIndividual
Bronze medal – third place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
European Games
Silver medal – second place2015 BakuIndividual
Silver medal – second place2015 BakuTeam
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 ZagrebIndividual
Silver medal – second place2012 LegnanoTeam
Bronze medal – third place2016 ToruńTeam

Fencing career

Junior

Dolniceanu began fencing at age 13 under the coaching of Iulian Bițucă at CSM Iași.[2] The absence of his parents, who had gone to work in Italy, pushed him to train hard. He took his first international podium in the Junior World Cup in Budapest in 2006. The same year, he earned a silver medal in the Junior World Championships in Poznań, after being defeated by future Olympic champion Áron Szilágyi. He took the bronze medal in the Junior European Championships in Prague in 2007 and reached number one in junior rankings in early 2008.

2008–2012

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.[3] 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.

He took part in the 2012 Summer Olympics, but was beaten in the second round by United States' Daryl Homer. In the team event, sixth-seeded Romania disposed of China 45–30 to meet Russia in the semi-finals. Dolniceanu gave his team a 20-17 lead, but a crash with Nikolay Kovalev awakened a right-ankle sprain sustained during the 2012 European Championships; he also broke a nail on his weapon hand and had to receive medical treatment.[4] Romania were dominated 45-26 by South Korea in the final, Dolniceanu being the only one to win a bout, and took the silver medal.[5]

After the London Games
Dolniceanu (R) fences Reshetnikov in the 2013 World Championships

After the Games three of the four members of the Olympic team chose to retire,[6] Formerly the team's benjamin, Dolniceanu became captain of the new team, with Alin Badea and Ciprian Gălățeanu as full members and Iulian Teodosiu and Mădălin Bucur as reserves.

Dolniceanu began the 2012–13 season with a silver medal in the Plovdiv Grand Prix. In the European Championships in Zagreb, he defeated 15–11 the three-time incumbent Aleksey Yakimenko of Russia to win the individual gold medal. An injury sustained in the quarter-final prevented him from taking part in the team event, which Romania finished in the fourth place.

Dolniceanu went to earn the bronze medal and the team silver medal in the World Fencing Championships in Budapest. He also won the silver in the 2013 World Combat Games. For these performances he was voted sportsman of the year by the Romanian Sport Press Association[7] and fencer of the year by the Romanian Fencing Federation.[8]

In the 2013–14 season Dolniceanu won the bronze medal in the first stage of the World Cup in Madrid.[9] This result pushed him to the first place in world rankings.[9] He went on to win in Moscow the first World Cup tournament of his career after defeating Korea's Kim Jung-hwan.[10] In March he helped his club CS Dinamo to win the European Champion Clubs' Cup in Gödöllő, after prevailing over Áron Szilágyi's Vasas SC, at the price of a right-foot tendon injury during the final.[11] He sustained another injury, this time to the left ankle, at the Plovdiv World Cup, where he posted a third place.[12] At the 2014 European Championships he was stopped in the second round by France's Nicolas Rousset.[13] In the team event Romania were defeated in the quarter-finals by Belarus and placed fifth after the ranking matches.[14]

At the 2014 World Championships Dolniceanu reached the semifinals, but he was defeated by Russia's Kovalev, against whom he had prevailed in the same phase at the 2013 European championships, and came away with his second bronze medal in a row.[15] In the team event Romania met South Korea in quarter-finals. After a promising beginning for Romania Dolniceanu lost the pace against Kim Jung-hwan. They failed to make up lost ground and lost eventually on a 41–45 score.[16] Romania finished seventh after the ranking matches. Romania's head coach Mihai Covaliu was quoted saying: “This kind of 'block' can happen to the greatest of fencers. I hope Tibi learns from it.”[17] Dolniceanu finished the season no.5 in world rankings. Thanks to his bronze medal he was named fencer of the year by the Romanian Fencing Federation for the second year in a row.[18]

In the 2014–15 season Dolniceanu failed to get past the table of 16 in Budapest, New York and Padova: he was defeated respectively by teammate Teodosiu and two South Koreans. He was happier in the team competition, striking the decisive hit in the final against Italy in Budapest and winning gold for Romania.[19] He also led CS Dinamo to a silver medal in the European Champion Clubs' Cup in Padova.[20]

He reached the semi-finals of the men's individual sabre at the 2016 Olympics.[21] There was no team event.

References
  1. "Tiberiu Dolniceanu Olympic Results". london2012.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  2. Narcis Pohoață (9 August 2013). "Singur pe lume şi un vis olimpic! Povestea lui Tiberiu Dolniceanu, medaliatul cu bronz la sabie la CM de scrimă de la Budapesta". ProSport (in Romanian).
  3. Romanian Chamber of Deputies (ed.). "Decret nr.1.501 din 20 octombrie 2009 privind conferirea unor decorații" (in Romanian).
  4. Andru Nenciu; Alexandru Enciu; Mirela Basescu (August 2012). "Sânge pentru argint olimpic. Dolniceanu a evoluat cu probleme la gleznă şi cu unghia de la degetul mare smulsă!". ProSport.
  5. Andru Nenciu (August 2012). "Medalie de argint la sabie! România - Coreea de Sud 26-45!". ProSport (in Romanian).
  6. "Tiberiu Dolniceanu este ultimul muschetar" (in Romanian). Dolce Sport. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  7. "Presa a votat cu Dolniceanu". Ziarul de Iași. 7 January 2014.
  8. Radu Levârdă (24 December 2013). "Tiberiu Dolniceanu, înaintea Anei Maria Brânză!". Sport Total FM (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  9. Daniel Remes (10 February 2014). "Tiberiu Dolniceanu, pentru prima dată lider în clasamentul Cupei Mondiale de sabie". ProSport (in Romanian).
  10. Daniel Remes (22 March 2014). "Tiberiu Dolniceanu a câştigat pentru prima dată o etapă de Cupă Mondială". ProSport (in Romanian).
  11. Daniel Remeș (12 March 2014). "Dolniceanu despre câștigarea Cupei Campionilor Europeni: "E un trofeu important pentru noi și pentru club"" (in Romanian). Romanian Fencing Federation.
  12. Teodor Ciobanu (5 June 2014). "Scrimă: România, cu Tiberiu Dolniceanu accidentat, și-a propus o medalie la CE 2014" (in Romanian). Agerpres. Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  13. Marian Burlacu (10 June 2014). "Tiberiu Dolniceanu nu și-a putut apăra titlul european la sabie" (in Romanian). SportNews.
  14. Cezara Paraschiv (14 June 2014). "Doar locul 5 pentru România". ProSport (in Romanian).
  15. Roxana Fleșeru (19 July 2014). "Bronz păstrat". Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian).
  16. Cezara Paraschiv (21 July 2014). "Sabrerii au terminat pe locul 7 Mondialul de la Kazan". ProSport (in Romanian).
  17. Daniel Remeș (22 July 2014). "Mihai Covaliu, după concursul de sabie pe echipe: 'I-am avut în mână pe coreeni. E greu când numărul unu din echipă are probleme.'" (in Romanian). Romanian Fencing Federation.
  18. Andrei Mazurchievici (18 December 2014). "Tiberiu Dolniceanu, cel mai bun sportiv al FR de Scrimă în 2014" (in Romanian). Mediafax.
  19. Cezara Paraschiv (23 November 2014). "Dolniceanu&Co, victorie la tușă decisivă în Cupa Mondială, la Budapesta". ProSport (in Romanian).
  20. "Sciabola maschile - Le Fiamme Gialle vincono la Coppa Europea per club" (in Italian). Italian Fencing Federation. 2 February 2015.
  21. "Men's Sabre Individual". 2016-09-22. Archived from the original on 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2017-07-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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