Gilliver adds gold to medal haul in Sao Paulo

Piers Gilliver reigned supreme in Sao Paulo as he took épée gold at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist beat Maurice Schmidt of Germany 15-4 in the final of the men’s épée A category to claim his second medal in Brazil, following his bronze in the sabre A class on day one.

Gilliver, 24, is now back on top of the épée rankings, having gone on a run of three consecutive World Cup victories since Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games qualification began back in November.

Russia’s world and European champion Maxim Shaburov ended that streak at the last World Cup event in Italy but could only muster a 17th-placed finish this time around.

Gilliver had beaten Canada’s Ryan Rousell 15-4 in the round of 32, Romain Nouble of France 15-5 in the last 16, Italy’s Emanuele Lambertini 15-3 in the quarter-finals and battled to a 15-9 triumph over Artur Yusupov in the last-four to set up the showpiece against Schmidt.

The Brit’s victory rounded off the individual events at the Brazil Paralympic Training Centre with team events in men’s épée and women’s foil set to follow on the final day of competition.