Wheelchair fencing Asian Championships set to light-up Asian Para Games

The 2018 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) Asian Championships are set to open in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday (6 October) as part of the Asian Para Games.

More than 70 of the region’s best athletes from 11 countries will conclude the major competition calendar for the year, after Americas and European Championships in September.

Live results will be available here when competition gets underway on Sunday (7 October).

At the last Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Asian fencers left with 22 medals including 17 for China. The country is once again sending a strong contingent to Jakarta with four Paralympic title holders amongst their ranks.

One of their Rio golds went around the neck of Xufeng Zou in the women’s epee category A whilst Jinjing Zhou triumphed in the category B. In the men’s Gang Sun was the winner in the epee category A and Yanke Feng in the foil category B.

Chinese fencers also left the last Asian Championships in Hong Kong in 2016 with all but two golds. But other countries are lining up to challenge their dominance.

Thailand’s Saysunee Jana followed up on her Paralympic silver from the epee behind Zhou with the same colour in the epee and sabre at the 2017 World Championships in Rome, Italy.

Hong Kong’s Yu Chui Yee – a seven time Paralympic champion – picked up two individual category A silver medals in 2016 and went on to climb the podium a further two times at the Worlds in epee and foil.

Yee plans to compete in all three weapons in Jakarta. After winning a gold and two bronzes at IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cups in Pisa, Italy and Warsaw, Poland, in 2018, she wants to see her flag raised across the board.

“It is an important competition for me,” Yee said of the Asian Championships. “We do believe that we will have a good result in Jakarta while my personal goal is getting medals in every event.”

Hoping to top the podium in the men’s is Iraq’s Ammar Ali, the defending regional champion in the epee category B.

Ali is also the holder of the bronze in the event from last year’s World Championships and a Paralympic silver medallist.

In the men’s epee team in 2017 Iraq secured bronze with Ali, Zainulabdeen Al-Madhkhoori and Hayder Al Ogaili, all of which will be competing once again.

Indonesia have a team of 11 fencers carrying the hopes of the hosts country.

More information is available at the Asian Para Games website.

Following Jakarta 2018, the qualification period for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begins in November with two World Cups taking place before the end of the year. Tbilisi, Georgia, will host from 8-11 November followed by Kyoto, Japan, from 13-16 December.