Wheelchair fencers complete individual medal hauls in Hangzhou

China’s Xiao Rong has ended her individual campaign at her home Asian Para Games in Hangzhou with a sweep of golds, completing her trio with victory in the women’s sabre category B on Friday (27 October).

World champion and Paralympic bronze medallist Rong emerged the victor from her final against Thailand’s Saysunee Jana.

The pair were evenly matched throughout their match, exchanging hits. But it was Rong who had the edge in the end.

The win adds to Rong’s podium-topping performances in the epee and foil. If China win the team sabre on Saturday (28 October), Rong will leave with five golds from five events having already claimed gold with her compatriots in the team foil.

China’s Lanzhu Ao and South Korea’s Eunhye Cho completed the podium with a bronze each.

Another Chinese fencer – Haiyan Gu – won her fourth gold medal from individual and team events on Friday.

Competing in the women’s sabre category A, World Championships bronze medallist Gu got past teammate Yuandong Chen who herself celebrated her latest podium finish.

Chen had already secured gold in the individual epee and silver in the foil as well as team titles in both weapons.

Gu and Chen were joined by compatriot Xufeng Xu who grabbed bronze. Thailand’s Thitirat Pengprasittipong also reached her maiden top three finish on her Asian Para Games debut.

Benjun Qin finally got his hands on gold in the men’s epee category B after claiming bronze in both the sabre and foil.

Qin just edged teammate Jie Zhang 15-13.

Thailand’s Visit Kingmanaw will be absolutely delighted with his bronze – his first regional medal. China’s Yanke Feng added another medal to his haul from Hangzhou 2023, this time taking third place. The podium means the 35-year-old ends the individual competition with a medal from each weapon.

World Championships bronze medallist Gang Sun also collected his first title of Hangzhou 2023 in the men’s epee category A.

After winning silver in the foil, Sun landed himself in Friday’s final against Iraq’s Zainalabdeen Al-Madhkhoori.

Al-Madhkhoori and the Iraq team were riding high after taking silver in the men’s foil earlier in the week, but he did not quite have what it took to overcome Sun. Nonetheless his silver is his best finish in the epee at an Asian Championships since 2016.

Chinese teammates Saichun Zhong and Jianquan Tian occupied third spot on the podium bringing their respective medals totals to three and four.

Wheelchair fencing at the Asian Para Games continues until Saturday (28 October) and features individual competition in the men’s and women’s foil, epee and sabre category A and B and team events in all three weapons.

The competition acts as the 2023 Asian Championships and offers crucial qualification points for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

On Saturday the men’s team epee and women’s team sabre will conclude the competition.

Full results are available at the Hangzhou 2023 website.