BRITISH WHEELCHAIR FENCERS BACK IN ACTION ON THE WORLD STAGE

British wheelchair fencers were back in action for the first World AbilitySport World Cup after the Paris Paralympics, held in Pisa, Italy, this November.

The competition in Pisa marked the first chance for our athletes to prove themselves in the new Paralympic cycle and, once again, they were not found wanting.

While most of the Paris squad was still enjoying a well deserved break, it was Gemma Collis who was the first lay down a marker; exempt from the poules by dint of her strong world ranking, she breezed through the early direct elimination rounds of the Women’s Category A Epee to set up a semi-final against Rodriguez-Menendez (ESP) where, once she established a narrow lead, she was able to dictate the terms of the match to her advantage, booking the place in the final with a 15-11 victory. For the gold medal bout she lined up against Kwon (KOR) who proved to be her match on this occasion, pressing Gemma at long distance, but leaving her with a well-deserved silver medal.

Further down the order, both Emily Holder and Susie Seddon-Cowell made strong efforts in the poules to set up their L16 elimination matches where, after a poule stage filled with excellent victories, Emily was outmatched by Ivanchyk. Susie came close to victory against Mandryk (UKR), pushing hard all the way before the Ukrainian was able to pull clear in the last few hits.

Justine Moore, competing in the Category B events, came across Zyjewska (POL) in both epee and foil, and was narrowly edged out on both occasions; in foil especially she showed grit and determination to fight back from a four hit deficit at the halfway stage to nearly close the gap before the Polish fencer was able to pull clear.

Elsewhere in Category A Foil, Emily made the most of a victory in the poules to set up an elimination match against Hajmasi (HUN), but was unfortunately kept to a blank slate by her more experienced opponent. James Peebles, competing for the first time in the Men’s Category A, was eliminated after the poules but gained valuable information for his two more dominant weapons later in the competition. It was a similar story in the sabre, where a short poule of more experienced fencers did him no favours and he was eliminated, leaving his hopes riding on the epee event on the final day of individual competitions.

Elsewhere in the men’s sabre event, James Burke, with his back against the metaphorical wall, produced a 5-0 win in the poules against the German Cursiefen to set up a L32 match against Kaplan (USA). Holding a narrow 8-5 lead in the first half, Burke calmed his fencing to win every hit in the second half, breaking into the top 16 of a World Cup for the first time in his career. His run was ended by top seed Giordan (ITA), the smiling giant proving too much for Burke on this occasion.

Sabre continued to be a story of career firsts when Susie produced a nail biting 15-14 victory against Gemma in the L16 of the Women’s Category A Sabre; Gemma showed her class and team spirit by staying on hand to provide valuable assistance ahead of Susie’s first-ever quarter final, where she pushed the Ukrainian Morkvych in a brutal match which saw Susie take 9 points off the Paralympic fencer to gain her personal best result of a L8 finish.

The Men’s Category A Epee was the final event of the competition and saw both James Peebles and Burke promoted into the elimination rounds. Despite battling injury, Burke showed his mettle against Pakdee (THA) to finish in the L32, where he was joined by Peebles who was riding high after claiming an excellent three victories in the poules. While Cursiefen (GER) proved too much for him on his occasion, it was an excellent display of determination which capped off three days of excellent work from newer and more experienced athletes alike. British fencers will return to Pisa in March, their numbers bolstered by returning Paralympic medalists and champions. Seeing the whole squad in action will doubtless be a highlight of the season.

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