[1] Pop took up fencing at CSS Satu Mare when he was seven years old to follow the steps of a girl he was in love with.

[2] He was coached first in foil by Eva Lenghel, then in épée by Alexandru Csipler, one of the founders of the Satmarean school of fencing.

He took the fourth place in the 1986 Junior World Championship in Stuttgart and earned his first senior Romanian Cup at the age of 17.

This good results cause him to be selected into the senior national team, with which he took part in the 1987 World Championships in Sofia.

He continued taking part in international fencing competitions in Scandinavia, winning two satellite World Cup events: the Trekanten Open in the 2006–07 season[3] and the SAF Pokalen in 2011.