Irina Embrich

Education

After high school Embrich studied chemistry at the Tallinn University of Technology.

Career

Embrich"s first sport was gymnastics, but she resented the hard discipline of the Soviet era. She later took to rhythmic gymnastics and then fencing under coach Samuil Kaminski. She only ranked 20th then 12th in the cadet World championships in 1996 and 1998, but snatched the bronze medal in the junior event in 1999.

In 2004 her coach left Estonia for Norway.

She was named Estonian Sportswoman of the Year 2007 for these performances. She ranked 10th in the World Championships in Budapest after she lost her T16 bout against Emese Szász, who eventually took a bronze medal.

In the 2013-2014 season she placed second in the Budapest Grand Prix after being defeated 7–15 in the final by world no.1 Ana Maria Brânză. This result helped her reach the 4th place in world rankings.

In the European Championships at Strasbourg, she was stopped in the table of 32 by World Number.1 Emese Szász.

In the team event, Estonia were defeated by Russia in the semi-final, then by Italy and finished fourth. In the World Championships in Kazan, Embrich reached the quarter-finals, defeating World Number.2 Ana Brânză along the way.

Achievements

• She won a silver medal in the 2006 World Fencing Championships and a gold medal with Estonia in the 2013 European Fencing Championships. Épée champion Nikolai Novosjolov, who is the same age as her, accepted to train her under an equal footing more than a student-master relationship. She went on in her fencing career and won the silver medal at the épée 2006 World Fencing Championships after losing the final 15–11 versus Tímea Nagy, and then the bronze medal in 2007. In the 2012-2013 season she took a bronze medal in the World Cup events of Leipzig and Saint-Maur and won the team gold medal with Estonia in the European Championships in Zagreb. She was then defeated by Italy"s Rossella Fiamingo, who eventually won the gold medal.