12 March 2018
Coutya carries on World Cup success with double gold in Italy
Dimitri Coutya continued his flying start to the World Cup season with two more wheelchair fencing gold medals in Pisa.
But the success did not end there for Great Britain as Piers Gilliver also picked up a gold, while Coutya completed his weekend with a bronze.
After a gold and bronze in Eger, Hungary last month the Brit reached new heights with the double world champion proving his class in Italy.
He triumphed in the both the foil and epee, before picking up bronze in the sabre – all Category B events.
While Gilliver struck gold in the Category A epee, her tenth in World Cup history - and also finished seventh in the sabre, with fellow Brit Gemma Collis-McCann 13th, 15th and 17th in the epee, foil and sabre, respectively.
But it was Coutya who stole the show, the Brit ranking first in the foil before beating Russia’s Alexander Kuzyukov 15-9 in the quarter-finals.
He then faced Brazil’s Jovane Guissone in the semi-final, easing to victory in that 15-3, before a similarly straightforward final win over Ukraine’s Anton Datsko – winning 15-4.
In the epee he once again ranked first in the pool round, before getting a bye in the round of 32 and beating Japan’s Michinobu Fujita 15-8 in the next round.
The quarter-finals saw a 15-0 whitewash of Italy’s Gabriele Leopizzi and he followed that up with a 15-8 win over Kuzyokov.
The final saw Coutya come up against France’s Marc Andre Cratere and the Brit had no trouble in beating him 15-9 for a second gold of the weekend.
Coutya could not quite replicate his golden performances in the sabre, but he came close with a fourth place ranking in the pool section, before making his way to the semi-finals where he was beaten 15-10 by Poland’s Pluta Grzegorz – the Brit eventually settling for the bronze.
Gilliver gets gold
Gilliver’s path to the knockout rounds of the epee matched Coutya’s, with the Brit ranking first in the pool phase before a bye in the first round.
A 15-2 last 16 win over Hungary’s Daniel Gattlinger sealed a spot in the quarter-finals, with the last eight proving no obstacle with a 15-5 win over Poland’s Norbert Calka ensuing.
Things got more tricky from then, but Gilliver still overcame Russia’s Maxim Shaburov 15-10 in the semi-final before sealing victory with a 15-11 victory over Italy’s Matteo Betti.
Gilliver’s sabre campaign came to a premature end in the quarter-finals, with the Brit losing 15-12 to Germany’s Maurice Schmidt.
While Collis McCann lost out 15-3 in the last 16 of the foil to Hungary’s Eva Andrea Hajmasi, while her epee campaign was halted 15-6 by Zsuzsanna Krajnyak at the same stage.
In the sabre she was downed 15-8 by Thailand’s Atittaya Chookerd in the round of 32.
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