Preview: Fencers prepare for European epee challenge

23/11/2022

The 2022 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing European Championships are set to get underway in just under one week’s time in Warsaw, Poland.

From 29 November – 4 December Europe’s best fencers will go for coveted regional medals for the first time since 2018.

All competition will be shown live at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing website, alongside live results. Pictures will be available for editorial use here.

Take a look at the pick of the epeeists.

Veres versus the rest of Europe?

Hungary’s Paralympic champion Amarilla Veres is hoping for the perfect end to 2022 in the women’s category A.

The 29-year-old has landed on the podium twice this year but has been beaten by the likes of Poland’s Marta Fidrych and Great Britain’s Gemma Collis.

With Ukraine’s European silver medallist Yevheniia Breus also in the starting line-up, the competition looks like it could be hot.

In the women’s category B, Italy’s Rosanna Pasquino and Ukraine’s Olena Fedota-Isaeva and Tatiana Pozniak are expected to be the leading lights.

Pasquino has medalled at three of the four World Cups she has competed in this year. Fedota-Isaeva and Pozniak are the bronze medallists from the last Euros in 2018.

Will Great Britain double-up?

All five top ranked epeeists will take to the pistes in Warsaw in the men’s epee category A.

Amongst them are British Paralympic and world champion Piers Gilliver who is unbeaten so far this season.

The next top ranked fencer is Emanuele Lambertini followed by Germany’s Maurice Schmidt, the respective world No.2 and No.3. Both fencers are searching for their first major international medal in Warsaw. France’s Luca Parisi, the world No.4 and Turkey’s Hakan Akkaya, the world No.5 will also be in action.

Gilliver’s teammate, Paralympic bronze medallist and world champion Dimitri Coutya, is also expected to be a frontrunner in the men’s category B.

The 2022 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing European Championships take place from 29 November and conclude a season which will include five World Cups and an Americas Championships. The final World Cup of 2022 will take place in Eger, Hungary, just ahead of the Euros from 17-20 November.