Dimitri Coutya makes history with medal hat-trick as University of Bath-based wheelchair fencers excel in Italy
Dimitri Coutya became the first Brit to win three individual medals at a World Cup event during another outstanding weekend for University of Bath-based wheelchair fencers on the international stage.
Coutya won Category B epee and foil gold, as well as sabre bronze, while MJ Church ambassador Piers Gilliver also excelled as he claimed the Category A epee title in Pisa, Italy.
Double World Champion Coutya has dominated his epee category in recent months and it was no different over the weekend as he won all of his bouts, including a 15-0 victory over Italy’s Gabriele Leopizzi at the quarter-final stage. He then overcame Russia’s Alexander Kuzyukov 15-8 before securing his second World Cup title of the year with a 15-9 win over Marc Andre Cratere of France.
Coutya won foil bronze in Hungary last month but improved on that with another series of fantastic performances, conceding just seven hits in his last two bouts including a dominant 15-4 victory over Ukraine’s Anton Datsko in the final.
A busy but rewarding weekend saw Coutya also contest the Category B sabre, where he reached the semi-finals before being edged out 15-10 by eventual gold-medallist Grzegorz Pluta of Poland. However, bronze was Coutya’s first-ever international medal in that category.
Gilliver – who, like Coutya is coached by Peter Rome at the University’s Sports Training Village – had won bronze in his opening World Cup of 2018 but demonstrated why he is ranked number one in the world in the Category A epee as he topped the podium this time round.
After breezing through the poule stages and his first two knockout rounds, Gilliver overcame Russia’s Maxim Shaburov 15-10 before beating home favourite Matteo Betti 15-11 in the final.
