The 24-year-old lost 11-15 in the final to Russia’s Yana Egorian, who competed under a neutral flag.
Ukraine's Alina Komashchuk and China's Qimiao Pan both took bronze medals.
Cieślar’s silver marked Poland’s first medal at this year’s world championships, which run until Wednesday in the Georgian capital.
The second-place finish is also the best in the history of Polish women’s sabre at the world level. Previously, only Aleksandra Shelton (then Socha) in 2003 and Bogna Jóźwiak in 2007 reached the podium, both taking bronze.
The medal is Poland’s first individual world championship podium in fencing since 2017, when Ewa Trzebińska took silver in the épée.
Zuzanna Cieślar in action against Yana Egorian in Tbilisi on Sunday. Photo: EPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
Cieślar already holds two European bronze medals, from 2022 and 2024.
Egorian, 31, is a two-time Olympic champion from Rio 2016 in both individual and team events. She returned to international competition after a prolonged absence, having previously been banned following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Earlier this month, the International Fencing Federation (IFF) decided to simplify its procedure for granting Neutral Individual Athlete (NIA) status, allowing the return of certain fencers who had been excluded from competition following the Kremlin's Ukraine offensive, the AFP news agency reported.
That decision sparked debate both before and during the world championships, it said.
Egorian had long been affiliated with CSKA Moscow, a military sports club, and was initially barred from competition. That changed after the FIE relaxed its criteria, requiring only a general "declaration of peace and neutrality."
The policy shift sparked strong criticism from Ukraine and the wider fencing community. More than 440 fencers from around the world—including many from Poland—signed an open letter opposing the decision, according to a report by Polish state news agency PAP.
On Sunday, dozens of demonstrators gathered in front of the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi to protest the participation of fencers from Russia and Belarus, particularly those linked to the military, multiple news outlets reported.
Last month, Poland’s women’s sabre team won silver at the European Championships in Genoa, finishing behind France. In the individual event, Poland’s Sylwia Matuszak earned a bronze.
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Source: IAR, PAP, AFP