On the board: Notre Dame fencer Eszter Muhari wins bronze for Hungary in women's epee

SOUTH BEND — In a bronze-medal match that featured nine ties and required sudden-death overtime, Notre Dame sophomore women’s fencer Eszter Muhari prevailed 15-14 over Estonia's Nelli Differt on Saturday at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Despite facing a 12-10 deficit midway through the third period, the 10th-seeded Muhari rallied past her 34-year-old opponent, who was seeded 12th. Total duration of the match was 19 minutes, 35 seconds.

Competing in her first Olympics at age 21, Muhari hadn’t led since 5-4 early in the second period.

A native of Budapest, Hungary, Muhari went 21-3 as a Notre Dame freshman and won the 2023 NCAA individual title in women’s epee. She did not compete in 2024 for the Irish as she focused on qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

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Muhari claimed the bronze medal in February in women’s epee at the Fencing World Cup in Barcelona.

Earlier Saturday, Muhari lost in the women's epee semifinals to No. 6 seed Auriane Mallo-Breton of France by a final score of 15-9. The match was even through two periods, but Mallo-Breton, 30, scored the first six hits of the third period to take control.

Muhari had moved through the bracket with victories over China's Junyao Tang (15-10 in the Round of 32), Korea's Sera Song (15-6 in the Round of 16), and China's Sihan Yu (15-10 in the quarterfinals).

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: On the board: Notre Dame fencer Eszter Muhari wins bronze for Hungary in women's epee