Olympic silver medallist Sara Balzer, left, was part of the French team which earned team gold at the women's sabre FIE World Cup in Plovdiv ©Getty Images

France made it back-to-back team women's sabre victories at the International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup in Plovdiv.

After their triumph in Tbilisi on January 17, the French team of Sara Balzer, Caroline Queroli, Sarah Noutcha and Manon Apithy-Brunet came out on top again at the Complex Sila in the Bulgarian city.

Balzer and Apithy-Brunet won team silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with the latter also earning individual bronze.

The French team overcame Azerbaijan 45-39 in the final, with their opponents' line-up featuring Anna Bashta who won yesterday's individual World Cup.

France started the day by easing past Romania 45-20, before beating Spain 45-32 in the quarter-finals and thrashing Italy 45-23 in the last four.

Azerbaijan's route to the final featured 45-39 wins against the United States and Hungary and a 45-32 victory against Bulgaria.

The host nation missed out on a medal after they were beaten 45-29 by the Italians in the match for bronze.

After finishing third in Tbilisi, Russia disappointed and ranked 13th in Plovdiv.

They lost by a single point against Bulgaria in their round-of-16 tie.

The next women's sabre FIE World Cup is due to be held in Greece's capital Athens, with individual competition scheduled for March 4 and 5 and the team event for March 6.