Song Se-ra of South Korea, right, beat France's Marie-Florence Candassamy in the final of the women's épée FIE World Cup in Barcelona ©Getty Images

Olympic silver medallist Song Se-ra collected her first International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup victory by beating Marie-Florence Candassamy in the women's épée final in Barcelona, rising to sixth in the rankings.

Song, who helped South Korea earn silver in the women's team épée at Tokyo 2020, clinched a thrilling 14-13 win in the decider against France's Candassamy at the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia.

There was only a point in Song's quarter-final and semi-final too, as she edged past Hong Kong's Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan 13-12 and Aizanat Murtazaeva of Russia 11-10 to reach the gold medal match.

Candassamy, meanwhile, saw off Estonia's Nelli Paju 15-13 and fellow French athlete Auriane Mallo 15-12 in the final stages of the competition.

Mallo and Murtazaeva both collected bronze medals at the World Cup.

The highest ranked fencer at the World Cup - Tokyo 2020 team gold and individual bronze medallist Katrina Lehis of Estonia - suffered a surprise round of 64 exit at the hands of Italy's Nicol Foietta.

World number three and two-time team Olympic silver medallist Choi In-jeong of South Korea had her World Cup ended at the round of 16 stage by Hsieh.

Competition in Barcelona is set to continue with the team event tomorrow, while the next women's épée World Cup is scheduled to be held in Sochi on February 25 and 26.