REPORT: WARSAW WHEELCHAIR FENCING WORLD CUP

Nat Lewis reports on the last major competition before the 2024 Paralympic Games.

The doors have closed on the final World Abilitysport World Cup before the Paris Paralympics; although selection for Paris was already set in stone before the first point was scored, our athletes took to the piste with the same determination, drive, and dedication to excellence that has made this island nation something of a titan on the world stage.

Category A Epee was arguably GB’s strongest event, with Gemma Collis, Susie Seddon-Cowell, and Emily Holder making headway in the ladies event; although narrowly cut after the group stages, Emily produced a mature and gutsy performance to push the eventual winner, Yevheniia Breus (UKR), hard in the poules, while Susie capped her season off with her strongest performance to date in the elimination rounds against Jataya Taylor (USA), taking the veteran athlete to 12 in a physically punishing and highly mobile game of cat and mouse before eventually being edged out by three points.

Gemma, exempt from the poules by virtue of her well-earned world ranking, breezed past Ka Man Lam (HKG) in a dominant display that set up a quarter final against France’s Brianna Vide. In a match that went right down to the final seconds and which was decided by a single point, the two fighters traded brutal blows in an eye-watering exchange that saw Vide victorious 9-8 at the final bell, leaving Gemma finishing in 6th place.

The men’s epee event was won by GB’s Piers Gilliver, who triumphed over a veritable smorgasbord of athletes from multiple nations to set up a final against Zainulab Al-Madhkhoori (IRQ), an old hand at the game, who troubled Piers in the opening stages before he was able to find his stride and pull away to a 15-12 victory, earning the GB athlete a fine, but by no means final, gold medal.

Josh Waddell had a frustrating day following a strong showing in the poules, going out to the French athlete Gaetan Charlot in the L32, forcing himself to pin his hopes on the foil event later in the week. Oliver Lam-Watson breezed through the round of 32, then came from behind to dispatch Luca Platania-Parisi (FRA) by two points in a thrilling match which shook the metaphorical rafters of the Airport Hotel as the roars of GB supporters rang out in shared triumph.

James Burke, competing in only his third international Epee event, mirrored Susie with a season best performance in what has traditionally been his second weapon, coming within a hair’s breadth of three victories in the poules, before troubling the passionate and jovial Mateo Dei Rossi (ITA) with his excellent movement prior to being overcome in the round of 32.

In the Category B event, Dimitri Coutya clinched the Epee bronze after grinding out hard-won victories against Italian and Ukrainian athletes Paulucci and Datsko in matches that went the distance and pushed Dimitri to produce mature performances under pressure. He was eventually stopped in the semi-final round by Latvian Olegs Garkuls-Gurevics but showed his class by immediately refocussing on the events still to come.

In this respect he was pushed hard by a narrow loss in the Category B Sabre to Dmytro Serozhenko (UKR), leaving him with a 7th place finish, meaning the individual and team foil events were his two remaining chances to bring home further silverware to British shores.

Similarly disappointed in the Men’s Category A event was James Burke who, despite fighting hard in the group stages, was cut and unable to progress to the elimination rounds. Despite this, James has shown strong progress over the last 12 months and will take great encouragement forward into the new season.

Piers continued his strong run of form by making it double Category A gold after emerging victorious against longtime rival Eduordo Giordan (ITA) in the sabre final, overcoming a cautious start in the early rounds before switching through the gears and smashing all comers with devastating long attacks and parries in his signature brutal fashion.

In the Ladies Category A, Susie was forced to settle for a L32 finish after succumbing to Anna Nadasdy (HUN) after a mixed poule round which saw her dig deep to claim a crucial victory against Begona Garrido (ESP). Nadasdy went on to repeat her victory in the next round against Gemma, coming out on top with the score 15-10 in the Hungarian’s favour, leaving Gemma with a 9th place in the sabre.

Moving on to the foil events, Emily showed poise and control in the Ladies Category A to dispatch Linor Kelman 5-3 in the poules, booking her a place in the elimination rounds where she contended with Pui Shan Fan (HKG) and forced the more experienced athlete to fight for every point before being taken out on her shield with the score standing at 15-6.

In the men’s foil event, Josh produced an electrifying performance in a victory against Japan’s Naoki Yasu in the L32, and then in a narrow 15-13 loss to top ranked competitor and World Champion Emanuele Lambertini in the L16. Joining Josh in the L16, Ollie fell afoul of Hakan Akkaya (TUR) after a well-earned and disciplined victory against Matteo Luthi (FRA), leaving the athletes with 9th and 14th places respectively.

Dimitri found success and golden glory in the Category B event, hitting his stride in a composed and steady performance where his tactical acumen and dominant blade made all the difference across four elimination rounds before his set his hand on the title with a world class 15-9 victory over the experienced and resurgent Anton Datsko (UKR).

The final event of the competition, the Men’s Foil Team, started in dominant fashion against America, where Josh Waddel proved his mettle alongside Dimitri and Ollie, before teeing up Piers to close out a clinical display that saw the boys claim victory by a staggering 42 hit margin.

Their semi final match against France seemed destined to go in similarly brisk style, before Luca Platania-Parisi ground out a double-digit comeback in the final leg to relegate GB to the bronze medal play off. Here they faced home nation Poland and showed their quality by steadily clawing back points after blunting the Polish charge in the first third of the match, eventually leaving the hometown heroes in the dust, 45-37.

All attention now turns to the Paris Paralympics, where Ollie, Gemma, Piers, and Dimitri will compete under the lights of the Grand Palais in the greatest festival of sport of all. Beyond their achievements this season, they have been gracious and generous role models to a new generation wheelchair fencers, many of whom joined them in Warsaw, and we wish them all the luck in the world.

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