Golden finish to pre-Rio competition for in-form wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver
University of Bath-based wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver won another IWASF World Cup gold medal when he travelled to Poland for his final competitive outing before the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
The 21-year-old, who finished the two-year Paralympic qualifying campaign ranked as the world’s number one epee fencer, was in fantastic form in Warsaw as he overcame a host of potential Rio medal rivals to take the title.
After winning all six of his poule bouts to top the seedings, Gilliver had a bye in the first knockout round before beating home favourite Rafal Bogdan Treter 15-8 to reach the quarter-finals.
A 15-10 victory against former European Champion Roman Fedyaev of Russia set up a semi-final showdown with reigning Paralympic Champion Dariusz Pender of Poland, which Gilliver won 15-8 after a brilliant display.
That set up a gold-medal match against Artur Yusupov, a repeat of February’s World Cup final in Hungary which was narrowly won by the Russian. However, Gilliver took the honours this time as a comprehensive 15-5 victory secured his third World Cup title in two years.
Gilliver, whose lead coach is Peter Rome, has now returned to the Sports Training Village fencing salle to continue his preparations for the Rio Paralympic Games, taking place from September 7-18.
Thrilled to come back with these fantastic trophies from the Warsaw World Cup! pic.twitter.com/H6XXHnElEf
— Piers Gilliver (@PiersGilliver) July 17, 2016
