Sharjah World Cup – the third qualifying competition for the Paralympic Games Tokyo2020, And Junior World Championships.

Three in a Row for Gilliver

Piers Gilliver made it three in a row in the Cat A Men’s Epeebeating old adversary, Gang Sun 15-10 in the final. Piers started the day with number 1 ranking in the tableau of 64 after poules. He beat Betti 15-6 in the L32, Nalewajek 15-10 in the L16, Chen 15-11 in the L8, and Al Madhkoori 15-6 in the semi final.

The added bonus was a silver medal in the Sabre, beaten 15-8by Ntounis in the final, but not before Piers had beaten Dabrowski 15-3 in the last 32, Pellegrini 15-6 in the last 16, El Assine 15-10 in the L8 and Giordan 15-10 in the semi

Dimitri with his dad, Najib

Dimitri gave another display of consistency, but also had the feeling of Déjà vu. In the Men’s Cat B Foil he was ranked 1 in the Tableau of 32 and progressed through the DE’s without being troubled. In the final he met Daoling Hu of China. The lead changed hands several times, Dimitri losing 15-14 and having to settle for the Silver medal. The following day he again breezed through the poules, and took his DE’s in his stride. However, in the final he met Daolong Hu for the second day running and the final had the same outcome, with Dimitri having to settle for Silver yet again.

The rest of the GB fencers turned in some very creditable performances. Ollie and Mat both fenced well in the Men’s Cat A Epee and were ranked 15th and 16th respectively after poules. In the last 32 they both put up a good show against much higher ranked opposition.

In Women’s Cat B Epee Justine Moore returned to competitive fencing after an absence of 7 years, and beat 3 opponents in the poules and was ranked 12th in the tableau of 32. She beat Santos of Brazil 15-5 in the L32, and lost 15-14 to Anri Sakurai, the eventual bronze medalist in the L16.

In the Cat A Epee Gemma Collis-McCann was well positioned after poules and in the L32 beat Afonina of Russia, 15-12. In the L16 she then beat Mandryk of Ukraine 15-9, but went out 15-11 to Yu of Hong Kong in the L8.

Junior World Championships

In the Junior World Championships Josh Waddell blew away the opposition in the poules of the Men’s U17 Foil, and was ranked 1 in the tableau of 16. He breezed through the DE’s but lost 15-12 in the final to Schrader of Germany. In the Men’s Epee it was a similar story. Josh bossed the poulesbeing ranked 1 in the tableau of 16. He again met little resistance in the DE’s and again met Schrader in the final. This time the result was reversed, Josh winning the final 15-6.

In the U23 Foil competition Josh was ranked 8 in the tableau of 32. He got a bye in the L32, and then in the L16 beat Ryan Rousell of Canada 15-10. In the L8 Josh lost 15-8 to the Russian, Gavrilenkov.

In the Epee after poules Josh was ranked 3 in the tableau of 32. In the L16 he beat Haupt of Germany 15-11, but in the L8 lost to Maurice Schmidt of Germany 15-9.

In the Epee Team Event GB were ranked 13th, and had to fight all day for a decent end result. They beat Italy 45-25 in the first match, then lost to Iraq 45-31. Their third match was against Ukraine which GB won 45-32. The final match was against France to decide 5th and 6th placings. GB won 45-44 and with a final place of 5th.

Here is Josh Waddell with his coach Ritrawe Sutera

Three BDF members recognised by British Fencing

In November 2019 three BDF members were recognised for their contributions to fencing, by British Fencing.

Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya were both awarded the British Fencing Silver Medal. In making the presentation and reading the citation, BF President, Hilary Philbin remarked on the extraordinary fencing achievements of both wheelchair fencers during the last four years, winning medals at every World Championships, Zonal Championships and World Cup. Hilary witnessed first hand their achievements at the World Championships in Cheongju, South Korea in September 2019, when each fencer won 2 individual medals and a team medal, and both had returned home as a World Champion. The award of the Silver Medal is richly deserved.

At the same ceremony Viv Mills was awarded the British Fencing Bronze Medal for services to fencing. In reading the citation, Hilary Philbin outlined Viv’s all-round contribution to fencing, as an Executive Director of England Fencing, being responsible for the organisation of the England Youth Championships, for four years, and acting as Assistant Manager and Coach to the England Veteran’s Team at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Christchurch and Canberra. As Secretary of British Disability Fencing, having responsible for the day-to-day administration of the GB Wheelchair fencers, and traveling to all the international competitions as BDF Team Manager, and coach. Viv also coaches at her local fencing club.