World Cup season to end in Eger ahead of European Champs

As a result some of the world’s top athletes will make the journey to Hungary including newly minted regional medallists and defending champions.

Eger 2022 will be shown live on the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing website alongside live results. Photos will be available for editorial use here.

The World Cup will play out just over a week ahead of the Euros in Warsaw, Poland, from 29 November – 4 December.

Meanwhile those athletes who took titles and podium finishes at the Americas Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in late October also return to the piste.

These include the USA’s Ellen Geddes in the women’s epee category B.

Geddes has enjoyed a stellar World Cup season so far, winning her first medals, and will look to end her year in style after claiming the regional gold in Brazil.

But Thailand’s Saysunee Jana is firmly in the frame as the bronze medallist from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and the current world No.1.

Ukraine’s Olena Fedota-Isaeva is also the bronze medallist from the 2018 Euros.

Hungary’s Amarilla Veres headlines the epee category A as the Paralympic champion and top seed. In Poland Veres will attempt to take her first European title.

Eger 2022 will be great practice for the 29-year-old as she will face world No.2 Gemma Collis of Great Britain as well as the respective silver and bronze medallists from Sao Paulo – the USA’s Shelby Jensen and Brazil’s Carminha Oliveira.

Turkey’s Elke Lale Van Achterberg should not be forgotten as a silver medallist from the under 23s World Championships also held in Brazil in October.

Hungarian Anna Nadasdy – a new face on the scene having swept the board in category A events also at the under 23s – will be hoping to impress on the World Cup stage in both sabre and foil.

In the sabre Georgia’s Nino Tibilashvili could stand in her way as the Paralympic silver medallist and European vice-champion.

Two Ukrainians – Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Yevheniia Breus and European champion Natalia Morkvych – are also amongst the stellar entries.

In the foil Italy’s Andreea Mogos is the world rankings leader whilst Morkvych is the Paralympic silver medallist. Headlining the field for the hosts is European title holder Eva Andreja Hajmasi.

Hong Kong’s Yu Chui Yee has landed on the podium across weapons at World Cups so far this season and can never be discounted.

Men’s

There is a similarly stacked field in the men’s competition.

Hungary’s Richard Osvath is the best men’s category A foilist in the world right now and the Paralympic silver medallist. He also wants to regain his European title from 2014 having finished third and second in 2016 and 2018.

Great Britain’s Piers Gilliver is unbeaten in the men’s epee category A since 2019, including three World Cups victories in 2022. In Warsaw Gilliver will go for his first European title having won the Paralympic gold last year.

Canada’s Ryan Rousell enjoyed a great Americas Championships, securing gold in both the epee and sabre.

Ukrainian teammates Andrii Demchuk and Artem Manko are two more faces to watch in the sabre.

Demchuk is the European champion whilst Manko finished second at Tokyo 2020.

In the category B, Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 epee silver medallist and Americas champion Jovane Guissone will end his season in Eger hoping for more success.

In Sao Paulo, the USA’s Scott Rodgers made his wheelchair fencing comeback after 14 years away. The double Paralympian from Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 returned to the piste and won silver behind Guissone in the epee.

British world champion and Paralympic bronze medallist Dimitri Coutya will also be in the mix as will Iraq’s Rio 2016 silver medallist Ammar Ali, who has finished on the World Cup podium three times this season.

Poland’s Adrian Castro is the world No.1, Tokyo 2020 podium finisher and reigning European champion in the sabre.

In the foil Coutya, France’s Maxime Valet and Guissone are the top three seeds. Coutya is also a Paralympic and European bronze medallist.

The Eger 2022 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup is the fifth and final edition of 2022. It follows editions in Sao Paulo; Chon Buri, Thailand; Warsaw; and Pisa, Italy.

As well as the Americas and European Championships, the postponed Asian Championships will take place in 2023 at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.

The full calendar for 2023 can be viewed here.