European Championship – Terni, Italy, September 2018

Dimitri Coutya – European Champion

The team went to Terni in buoyant mood. It paid off with a European title for Dimitri Coutya in the Cat B Epee to add to his World title from the previous year. He also added a bronze medal in Foil. Piers Gilliver was forced to settle for a Silver medal in Cat A Epee, in a repeat of the 2017 World Championship final against Shaburov of Russia. Gemma Collis-McCann had 2 L16 places in Foil and Epee.

The Men’s Foil team of Piers, Dimitri, Josh and Ollie were placed 5th.

Peter Rome giving the team briefing prior to competing

The men’s foil team with coaches Peter Rome and Ben Peggs

World Cup, Sao Paulo – the fifth qualification competition for Tokyo 2020

Piers and Dimitri deliver again

Piers and Dimitri had a very successful trip to Sao Paolo, with Dimitri taking gold in both the Cat B foil and epee competitions, and Piers taking gold in the Cat A epee and bronze in the sabre.

In the Cat A sabre Piers had 5 wins and no losses, and was ranked 2 in the tableau of 32, had a bye in that round and beat Citerne of France 15-3 in the L16. In the L8 he met and beat Shaburov of Russia 15-12. In the semi finals Piers lost to Demchuk of Ukraine 15-11.

Piers receiving his bronze medal from Udo Ziegler (IWAS)

In the Cat B foil Dimitri had 4 wins and no losses in the poules and was ranked 2 in the tableau of 32. He had a bye in the L32 and met and beat the Iraqi Ali Amar 15-3 in the L16. In the L8 he beat the Italian Cima 15-6, and in the semi-final he beat Khamatshin of Russia and in the final he met and beat Kamalov of Russia 15-5.

Dimitri with his first gold medal.

In the Cat B Epee poules Dimitri had a shocker by his standards with just 3 wins and 3 losses. He was ranked 15^th in the tableau of 32 with Shah Rashid one place below him also with 3 wins and 3 losses. In the L32 Dimitri beat Massarutti 15-10, Shah lost to Pluta 15-6. In the L16 Dimitri beat his nemesis Ali Amar 15-12 and progressed to the L8 where he met Kurzin of Russia and won 15-4. In the semi-final Dimitri beat his old friend Sasha Kuzyukov of Russia 15-9 and in the final – Oleg Naumenko of Ukraine 15-6.

Dimitri getting his second gold medal from Charmaine Hooper CEO of IWAS

Men’s Cat A epee saw Piers take 5 wins and no losses in his poules and was ranked 3 in the tableau of 64 receiving a bye to the L32 where he met Canadian, Ryan Rousell. A victory 15-4 saw him progress to the L16 where he met Noble of France, winning 15-5. In the L8 he beat the Italian Lambertini 15-8, and in the semi-final he beat Yusupov of Russia with the same score. In the final Piers defeated Schmidt of Germany 15-4.

Piers getting his gold medal.

In the team epee GB beat Italy 45-41, lost to Iraq 45-43, beat Brazil 45-29 and beat Ukraine 45-43 to finish 5^th.

Other notable performances came from Gemma Collis-McCann who fenced well in the women’s Cat A sabre, beating Soares of Brazil in the L32 and taking the current world number 1, Morkvych to 15-10 in the L16 match.

Mat Campbell-Hill also fenced well in the Cat A epee, winning 4 poule matches and taking some interesting scalps along the way. Ollie Lam-Watson had a consistent competition in both foil and epee, winning 3 poule matches and being competitive in his DE’s.

Shah Rashid was unlucky to catch a referee on a bad day in the sabre. Shah once again fenced consistently.

One sad note from this competition was the Greek coach who collapsed on the piste after complaining vehemently about the refereeing. He was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack and kept in hospital overnight.