GB wheelchair fencers bring super six continental crowns back to University of Bath training base from IWASF European Championships
It was another week to remember for the GB wheelchair fencing team that trains at the University of Bath as they won a super six titles at the 2022 IWASF European Championships in Warsaw, Poland.
Dimitri Coutya and Piers Gilliver secured two individual crowns apiece before joining forces with Oliver Lam-Watson and Joshua Waddell to win men’s team gold in the epee and foil competitions.
Day one saw reigning Paralympic and World Champion Gilliver complete his international Category A epee title collection as he beat Italy’s Emanuele Lambertini 15-8 in the final to claim his first-ever European gold.
Fellow World Champion Coutya also came out on top in the Category B epee, battling through hard-fought quarter- and semi-finals before defeating Yohan Peter of France 15-13 to retain the title he had previously won in 2018.
Coutya was in dominant form in the Category B foil competition, conceding just 18 hits in four knockout bouts – including a 15-0 victory in his semi-final – as he collected a second individual gold of the week.
Training partner Gilliver matched that achievement by winning the Category A sabre title, overcoming former World Champion Richard Osvath 15-14 in the quarter-finals before recording 15-7 wins in both the semis and final.
The duo added two more gold medals in the team competitions with Lam-Watson and Waddell, beating Ukraine 45-37 in the epee final and Italy 45-40 in the foil.
There were also fifth-placed finishes for Gemma Collis in her Category A epee and sabre competitions.
The GB squad are coached by Peter Rome at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, which has been home to the hugely-successful EIS Wheelchair Fencing Programme since 2015. Click here to find out more.
