South Korea’s Hyo Kyeong Kwan delivers upset at wheelchair fencing World Cup
24/09/2022
South Korea’s Hyo Kyeong Kwan executed a stunning victory over Hungarian Paralympic champion Amarilla Veres in the women’s epee category A at the 2022 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in Pisa, Italy, on Saturday (24 September).
The pair swapped the lead throughout the match, with Veres forced to come back against Kwan in the early stages and little to separate them.
With the score at 14-14 it was the South Korean who landed the decisive touch before letting out a short scream and clenching her fist in delight.
The win is Kwan’s first World Cup gold and follows on from her maiden medal from earlier in the season. So far the 21-year-old has reached the podium seven times across weapons at three World Cups.
Poland’s Marta Fidrych and France’s Brianna Vide, both enjoying their own successful seasons, were the bronze medallists.
In the women’s epee category B, Italy finally got the gold they had been hoping for courtesy of Rossanna Pasquino.
Pasquino took on the USA’s Ellen Geddes in the final, carving her first career World Cup win in the epee.
Geddes meanwhile matched her best ever World Cup finish from Friday’s foil with silver.
France’s Cecile Demaude and Germany’s Sylvi Tauber were third.
Great Britain’s Paralympic bronze medallist Dimitri Coutya triumphed for the second time in the men’s foil category B.
Adding to his win from the epee on Thursday (22 September), Coutya eased past France’s Maxime Valet 15-5.
Italy’s Marco Cima took full advantage of his home piste to claim bronze – his first individual World Cup podium since 2018.
Poland’s Michal Dabrowski rounded off a great set of results from Pisa 2022 with the other bronze. It was his third medal of the competition.
Italy’s former youth world champion just missed the chance to claim Italy’s second gold of the day in the men’s foil category A.
He faced a tough opponent in Hungary’s Paralympic silver medallist Richard Osvath and could not quite keep in touch. Osvath was the first to reach the magic score of 15 for his second medal of Pisa 2022, following on from his bronze in the sabre.
German 22-year-old Nicolas Haupt occupied his first World Cup podium with bronze. He was joined in third place by Poland’s Michal Nalewajek.
The Pisa 2022 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup concludes on Sunday with team events including the men’s and women’s team foil and the mixed sabre – a new event for 2022.